One of the numerous reasons many fans are excited forStar Wars: The Force Awakens, in theaters December 18, is that they were so disappointed in the prequel trilogy, 1999’sStar Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace,Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clonesand 2005’sStar Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, andGeorge Lucasisn’t involved this time around. Unlike the original trilogy, whereGeorge Lucasonly directedStar Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, the filmmaker directed all three prequels, but, as it turns out, he originally didn’t want to take the helm. DirectorRon Howardrecently appeared on MTV’sHappy Sad Confusedpodcast, to promote his new filmIn the Heart of the Sea, where he revealed thatGeorge Lucashad approached him to direct the prequels, along with two other legendary filmmakers.
“He didn’t necessarily want to direct them. He told me he had talked toRobert Zemeckis,Steven Spielberg, and me. I was the third one he spoke to. They all said the same thing: ‘George, you should do it’ I don’t think anybody wanted to follow-up that act at the time. It was an honor, but it would’ve been too daunting.”
While the prospect ofRobert Zemeckis,Steven SpielbergorRon Howarddirecting any of theStar Warsprequels is certainly intriguing, it isn’t known if they would be working strictly fromGeorge Lucas’s scripts, or if they would have co-written the films with him.George Lucasdid write Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace and Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith by himself, but he enlisted the help of co-writer Jonathan Hales on Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones. We’ll never know if the prequels would have been received better by fans and critics alike hadRobert Zemeckis,Steven SpielbergorRon Howardbeen involved, but it’s certainly an intriguing thought to ponder.
George Lucasmade headlines last week, when he revealed that Disney didn’t want to implement any of hisStar Warsideas into Star Wars: The Force Awakens, after he sold LucasFilm to the studio for $4 billion back in 2012. It isn’t know ifGeorge Lucaswill ever reveal what his vision was forStar Wars: The Force Awakens, and the sequels that will follow, but we know he had been planning these movies for over 30 years. Last December, a1983 interviewwithMark Hamillsurfaced, where the actor said thatGeorge Lucaswas planning on making a sequel trilogy in 2011.
Star Wars: The Force Awakenshas already broken box office records, less than a month before it hits theaters. The highly-anticipated sequel has raked in over $50 million n advanced ticket sales, with some estimating that it could make more than $300 million during its opening weekend. We’ll have to wait just 23 more days to see how fans and critics alike respond to the firstStar Warsmovie ever thatGeorge Lucasisn’t involved in. Would you have liked to see the prequel trilogy directed byRobert Zemeckis,Steven SpielbergorRon Howard?
