George Lucas Admits That Giving Up 'Star Wars' Was "Very Painful"

As you can imagine, after you dedicate decades of your life to building a world filled with lore, characters, and countless stories, it'd be rather difficult to let go of it. George Lucas himself has confirmed that it was indeed "very painful" to let go of a galaxy far, far away. With The Star Wars Archives 1999-2005 releasing and shedding all kinds of new light on both the prequels and the galaxy as a whole, Lucas revealed many details to author Paul Duncan.

"At the time I was starting the next trilogy; I talked to the actors and I was starting to gear up. I was also about to have a daughter with my wife. It takes 10 years to make a trilogy -- Episodes I to III took from 1995 to 2005.

I'd still be working on Episode IX! In 2012 I was 69. So the question was am I going to keep doing this the rest of my life? Do I want to go through this again? Finally, I decided I'd rather raise my daughter and enjoy life for a while.

I could have not sold Lucasfilm and gotten somebody to run the productions, but that isn't retiring. On The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi I tried to stay out of the way but I couldn't. I was there every day. Even though the people were friends of mine and they did great work, it wasn't the same as me doing it. It was like being once removed. I knew that probably wouldn't work again, that I'd be frustrated.

I'm one of those micromanager guys and I can't help it. So I figured I would forgo that, enjoy what I had and I was looking forward to raising my daughter. Also I wanted to build a museum, which I'd always wanted to do, so I was thinking, 'If I don't do this now, I'll never get it done.'

I've spent my life creating Star Wars -- 40 years -- and giving it up was very, very painful. But it was the right thing to do.

I thought I was going to have a little bit more to say about the next three because I'd already started them, but they decided they wanted to do something else. Things don't always work the way you want it. Life is like that."

While recounting the experience of giving up Star Wars the way he did, it was obvious that his family was at the core of his decision. It's understandable that his child would come before the movies he makes. Lucas already gave us six movies, oversaw countless novels, shows, and games across 35 years, making it a rather large and very broad universe already created. With the timing of the everything going on in his life at the time, it's hard to imagine many people making a different choice.

It is unfortunate that Disney chose to go another way with the trilogy they put out, and the subsequent novels tied to them and side stories they've produced. While many of them are excellent, it means we'll never truly see Lucas' vision for the sequel trilogy he always had planned. While much of the details were revealed in the book as well, we'll never be able to experience the next chapter in a galaxy far, far away the way the creator of it all intended us to. But love them or hate them, the decisions Disney have made are ones that have shaped the current shape of the galaxy we all know today.

Written By Tristen Brooks

Syndicated From Culture Slate