Unofficial community for Star Wars, an American epic space opera franchise, created by George Lucas and centered around a film series that began with the eponymous 1977 movie.
George Lucas did a long interview on stage at Cannes and one soundbite quoted in set off a lot of discussion:
Discussing the Star Wars sequels made after he sold Lucasfilm to Disney in 2012 (for $4.05 billion), Lucas said the new corporate bosses got a lot wrong.
"I was the one who really knew what Star Wars was … who actually knew this world, because there’s a lot to it. The Force, for example, nobody understood the Force." he said. "When they started other ones after I sold the company, a lot of the ideas that were in [the original] sort of got lost. But that’s the way it is. You give it up, you give it up."
But now a full recording of the entire interview has and while the second part of the quote about the sequels is accurate, it turns out that the first part about The Force was misleading and is not actually about the sequels. He was talking about The Empire Strikes Back.
Here's the fuller quote (The Hollywood Reporter quotes are in bold):
[Talking about the sequels]
When I sold the company I just sort of said because I had a baby girl, I got married, I had a different life and I said I'm going to you know... And I knew it would take me another 10 years to make those films. And I was 69 and I said, "I'm not going to be doing this when I'm 79 and it's time to let go and let somebody else do it."
[Pivots to talking about Empire]
Even though like with Empire Strikes Back I ended up having to be on the set the whole time. But it's like I was the only one that really knew what Star Wars was and Kershner and I were really good friends. So I was like the consultant, the advisor who actually knew the world, because there's a lot to it. The Force, nobody understood the force, nobody, you know, what they do is...
[Talking about the sequels again]
And then they started other ones after I sold the company, a lot of the ideas that were in [the original] sort of got lost. But that’s the way it is. You give it up, you give it up.
