In a new interview, George Lucas revealed that he once planned to make three more Star Wars films. However, the passage of time forced him to make a difficult choice.
The filmmaker who transported generations of fans to a galaxy far, far away discussed that decision during a recent interview with CBS Sunday Morning. Lucas appeared on the program to promote the opening of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles.
George Lucas and his wife Mellody Hobson – CBS Sunday Morning, YouTube
Much of the story has been known for years. However, Lucas’s latest comments put the personal sacrifice into perspective. Bringing one longtime dream to life meant walking away from another.
“Well, I’m 82, so there is a limit to—when I did this, I decided to retire from making movies, which was a big deal because I had three more Star Wars to make. But I realized that I was running out of time, and I did want to make this museum, and I’d spent a lot of time developing digital technology for the movie business,” Lucas explained.
Lucas Had Already Started Planning Another Trilogy
After completing the Star Wars prequel trilogy, speculation intensified over where Lucas might take the story next. Conflicting accounts from Lucas and Luke Skywalker actor Mark Hamill suggest that fans may never know precisely what he had planned.
Still, Lucas had already started laying the groundwork for another trilogy.
“At that 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,” Lucas told entertainment journalist Paul Duncan in a 2020 interview.
Why did George Lucas sell Lucasfilm in 2012? He tells me why in this extract from my new book The #StarWars Archives Eps I-III. My unboxing video here: https://t.co/M907YGZsjm pic.twitter.com/MEPRStOil8
— Paul Duncan Lives! (@Kershed) December 3, 2020
Lucas said he ultimately asked himself whether he wanted to spend his 60s making more Star Wars films.
“Finally, I decided I’d rather raise my daughter and enjoy life for a while.”
Disney purchased Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion in 2012. The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art was announced the following year.
Lucas Was Disappointed by Disney’s Direction
After Disney’s Star Wars sequel trilogy proved deeply divisive, Lucas expressed disappointment that the franchise had moved away from his creative vision.
“When they started other ones after I sold the company, a lot of the ideas that were in [the original] sort of got lost,” he told an audience at the Cannes Film Festival in 2024. “But that’s the way it is. You give it up, you give it up.”
Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker in The Force Awakens (2015), Lucasfilm
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Later reports alleged that Disney CEO Bob Iger discarded sequel treatments Lucas had provided as part of the sale. The claims went further, arguing that Iger wanted to move beyond Lucas’s legacy and create something distinctly new.
Iger’s memoir, The Ride of a Lifetime, appears to partially support that account. According to the former Disney CEO, Lucas felt “betrayed” after seeing The Force Awakens and “didn’t hide his disappointment.”
Lucas Chose a Different Legacy
Lucas may have surrendered the opportunity to complete his version of the Star Wars saga, but he did so to spend time with his family and pursue another deeply personal ambition.
George Lucas via AMC+ YouTube
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The unfinished trilogy will remain one of the franchise’s greatest unanswered questions. The museum, however, offers Lucas a different legacy—one built around preserving the visual storytelling that inspired his own career.
Do you wish that George Lucas had made three more Star Wars films before retiring? Sound off and let us know!
