George Lucas has explained his reasoning for leaving the Star Wars universe behind. The filmmaker wrote and directed the first feature in the franchise, later retitled A New Hope, which was released in 1977 and launched a multimedia franchise the likes of which had never been seen before. However, in 2012, after five more Star Wars movies and countless television broadcasts, novels, action figures, and more, he sold his company Lucasfilm to Disney, giving up ownership of the long-running sci-fi fantasy franchise that is one of the Top 5 highest-earning in history.
The French outlet Brut recently shared a clip from an interview with Lucas that was conducted at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. Check out their post on X below:
In the interview clip, he discusses his retirement, saying that “we could see the problems” with theatrical distribution amid the rise of streaming platforms, particularly Netflix, and he decided to leave the business because he recognized that it was on the verge of a “giant transition.” Read a full transcript of his quote below:
Streaming is really powerful, and it’s great, it’s really upped the movie business because the theatrical movie business… we could see the problems, and it was not good. So everybody was looking to save it, but nobody knew streaming would. And that’s when Netflix took off, and at that point, I said, ‘I don’t know what this is gonna be, there’s gonna be a giant transition in the business, I don’t know that much about it,’ and I sold the company, and I retired.
More to come…
Source: Brut/X
Star Wars
Star Wars is a multimedia franchise that started in 1977 by creator George Lucas. After the release of Star Wars: Episode IV- A New Hope (originally just titled Star Wars), the franchise quickly exploded, spawning multiple sequels, prequels, TV shows, video games, comics, and much more. After Disney acquired the rights to the franchise, they quickly expanded the universe on Disney+, starting with The Mandalorian.
- Created by
-
George Lucas
- First Film
-
Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope
- Cast
-
Mark Hamill
, James Earl Jones
, David Prowse
, Carrie Fisher
, Harrison Ford
, Daisy Ridley
, Adam Driver
, Ian McDiarmid
, Ewan McGregor
, Rosario Dawson
, Lars Mikkelsen
, Rupert Friend
, Moses Ingram
, Frank Oz
, Pedro Pascal - TV Show(s)
-
The Mandalorian
, Andor
, Obi-Wan Kenobi
, The Book of Boba Fett
, Ahsoka
, The Acolyte
, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew
, Lando
, Star Wars: The Clone Wars
, Star Wars Rebels
, Star Wars: The Bad Batch
, Star Wars: Resistance
, Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures
, Star Wars: Visions - Character(s)
-
Luke Skywalker
, Han Solo
, Rey Skywalker
, Emperor Palpatine / Darth Sidious
, Obi-Wan Kenobi
, Ahsoka Tano
, Grand Admiral Thrawn
, Grand Inquisitor
, Reva (The Third Sister)
, The Fifth Brother
, The Seventh Sister
, The Eighth Brother
, Yoda
, Din Djarin
, Grogu
, Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader
, Leia Organa
, Ben Solo/Kylo Ren - Video Game(s)
-
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II – The Sith Lords
, Star Wars Battlefront (2015)
, Star Wars: Battlefront 2 (2005)
, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2
, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
Source:
