When it comes to the newStar Warsfilms,George Lucasis hands-off. The creator of the franchise sold Lucasfilm to Disney a few years back and handed over his story treatments forEpisodes VII,VIII, andIX, but he was apparently not thrilled when he found out thatJ.J. Abramsand Co. opted to discard Lucas’ ideas and move forward with their own. So in the wake ofThe Force Awakens, there’s been the expectation that Lucas won’t really be involved with anythingStar Warsrelated anymore.
However, it turns out that’s not exactly true.Rogue OnedirectorGareth Edwardsrecently took part in an interview with a French news outlet (viaMaking Star Warsand/Film) where he revealed that he showed Lucas a cut ofRogue One:
“I think there are two things that are incredibly surreal that you’re able to do in your life. Number two is having to show George Lucas yourStar Warsmovie. Like, that was really crazy. And I think number one is to be George Lucas and have someone show you aStar Warsmovie. So I felt for him, and he was incredibly gracious.”
Lucas also offered some advice to Edwards when he visited the set:
“He said, ‘Don’t screw it up.’… He joked a lot about how we should do more in the computer, and not build so much. We didn’t take his advice. We tried to shoot as much in-camera as possible.”
Classic George. In all seriousness, it’s kind of neat that Lucas got a peek atRogue One. This is different thanForce Awakensin that it’s not continuing the story he created, but filling in gaps of the previous story. It mirrors Lucas’ outlook on fan-fiction and those variousStar Warsnovels—he didn’t much care that other people wanted to write stories set within hisStar Warsuniverse, and one imagines he’s more comfortable weighing in and/or watching theseA Star Wars Storyfilms than the proper Episodes, given that he had ideas for theEpisodestories that were ignored. You’re up next,Phil LordandChris Miller!
Will we get to hear what Lucas thought ofRogue One? I suppose we’ll find out in due time. For now, you can watch the Edwards interview (dubbed in French) below.Rogue One: A Star Wars Storyopens in theaters on December 16th.
