George Lucas Explains Disney Sale, New “Star Wars” Movies
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Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — In a sit-down interview posted on StarWars.com, George Lucas discusses the sale of his Lucasfilm to Disney, as well as future Star Wars movies led by his hand-picked successor, Kathleen Kennedy.
Lucas and Kennedy have collaborated for decades, most notably on the Indiana Jones series, and he expressed she was the perfect choice to take the reins of his company, which is now part of the Disney empire.
“I felt that I really wanted to put the company somewhere…[that] would protect it,” Lucas said of the reported $4.5 billion sale. “You know, between the parks and all the things they’ve got going…there are lots and lots of opportunities at Disney that we wouldn’t have at any other studio. When I first made Star Wars, everybody said, ‘This is a movie Disney should have made.'”
Part of the Disney deal was that the so-called House of Mouse would be launching a new Star Wars trilogy with Star Wars: Episodes VII, VIII, and IX.
“I get to be a fan now…It’s much more fun,” laughed Lucas.
Oscar-winning Toy Story 3 writer Michael Arndt has written the treatment for the next three movies, and he’ll be writing Episode VII.
Kennedy explained everyone involved with the next trilogy will first and foremost be fans of the saga.
“It’s going to be somebody who really appreciates what Star Wars meant to them…[T]he directors who are going to walk into the room and go, ‘I can’t wait to be a part of this!'” she said.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio