Unless you were living under a rock the last week — or lost connection to the outside world due to Hurricane Sandy — you know that a new Star Wars trilogy is on its way thanks to Disney’s $4 billion acquisition of Lucasfilm. We’ve already got hints as to where the story may head, but what does this mean for George Lucas himself? It’s confirmed he won’t be directing, but now we’ve got word from the creator himself on what his exact role will be and what his future filmmaking plans hold.
Speaking at Ebony magazine’s Power 100 Gala, Entertainment Weekly has the scoop from Lucas, who confirms he’ll be handing over the reigns almost entirely to his “wonderful” producer Kathleen Kennedy as he steps back as creative consultant. “She’s more than capable of taking it and making it better than I did,” Lucas said, also confirming that she’ll be the one to choose a new director. He added that “it’s very sad” to let Lucasfilm go, but he’s “ready to move on to bigger and better things.”
One of these things is his “own little personal films.” Back when his producing effort Red Tails was released earlier this year, Lucas said that he was done with blockbuster filmmaking. He’s now confirmed this new path, saying, “I’m going to go further out than that. I barely got Red Tails into the theaters. The ones I’m working on now will never get into the theaters.” While that WWII fighter pilot film did receive a hefty 2,500-plus screen release, it’s clear that we’ll never see major Lucas spectacle again. If that means more American Graffiti-esque films, however, I’m certainly looking forward to what he comes up with.
As we wait for more Star Wars news, check out a bonus video below (via i09) featuring a Mark Hamill interview with Maria Shriver in 1983, talking about Luke Skywalker in a new Star Wars film: