When George Lucas sold Star Wars to Disney in 2012 for just over $4 billion, it came long after he completed two full movie trilogies as well as introducing multiple shows to the franchise. However, what if he sold it in the late 1970s after the very first film?
Despite endless documentaries about the Star Wars franchise, it’s never been mentioned that Lucas wanted to sell it to 20th Century Fox studios despite Lucas himself stating exactly that in an overlooked interview for the then yet-to-be-released Return of the Jedi.
Selling Star Wars in 1977?
Published in The Sacramento Bee in August of 1982, the interview was conducted by Audie Bock and was written after she visited one of the sets on location and spoke to George Lucas. At this point, the movie was still called Revenge of the Jedi.
Bock notes how secretive the set was, with signs reading “SET IS CLOSED: No visitors, no wives, no children, no friends.” Even in her article, she admits that she is not allowed to tell much more than that. Thus, she focuses her conversation with George Lucas on his challenges in making the trilogy.
Lucas’ answers are revealing, possibly because he found it easy to open up to Bock since she was a friend of Japanese director Akira Kurosawa — one of Lucas’ biggest inspirations — and she also wrote a book about Japanese cinema. So, she was able to dive in on how the filmmaking experience of the three movies has affected him. Lucas was so responsive that he told her that he’d rather be in bed watching television than making the conclusive film. He was exhausted and had health issues that, as he says, nearly killed him during the tail end of making the original trilogy.
Those health issues were likely a major motivating factor behind his desire to rid himself of Star Wars altogether. The stress of making them proved overwhelming to the point where he was re-recording audio for Star Wars up to the very day it was released.
Lucas explained to Bock what he wanted to do once the first film was finished:
“Do the first one and then be a real mercenary and turn it over to someone like Fox and take a big percentage of the gross.”
Lucas added that his involvement in Star Wars thereafter would simply be to go to the movies and watch them.
I have a bad feeling about this
Imagine what The Empire Strikes Back would’ve been if Lucas was not at all involved with it. Surely, anyone taking on the story would have developed an inferior product and the movie itself would likely have a different title. It certainly wouldn’t be remembered as one of the greatest sequels of all time despite the plot twist, especially considering that if the studio had their way with the first film then there would not even be a Death Star finale.
So, why did that not happen? Did Lucas try selling it unsuccessfully?
Well, he explained, “When the time came for me to turn it over, I’d fallen in love with it.”
He doesn’t say whether he had a deal in place and changed his mind or if he simply scrapped the idea before getting to that point but his saying, “When the time came for me to turn it over,” suggests something was in the works.
Thank goodness it became a love story between Lucas and Star Wars. He even compares it to a marriage and said that Star Wars is like a woman to him. “You can’t live with them and you can’t live without them.”
He further explained another reason why he stayed with it, which is something that most Star Wars fans will claim is missing from the franchise today, at least in terms of making the most recent trilogy:
“I want these three films to have a unity because it’s one story. I knew I had to be here to keep the look of it consistent, the art direction consistent, the technology consistent.”
Do or do not, there is no try
Imagine if Disney took that approach and cared enough to make sure that their Star Wars trilogy — episodes VII to IX — was consistent, something most people agree was its biggest flaw.
Lucas persisted despite difficulties and also out of necessity. He told Bock that he realized no one else had the answers except for him, adding, “I’m the only one who knows where we’re going and where we’ve been.”
Interestingly, he also insisted that the next trilogy “will be someone else’s vision.” One can assume he missed Star Wars after more than a decade away from it, hence why he returned to writing it again to make the prequels.
Lucas realizing he needed to continue overseeing every aspect of the saga, coupled with his falling in love with the story, is what made the original trilogy so beloved. He took care of the product and made sure that it all made sense and now Star Wars fans only ask for that same care in the franchise moving forward.
