George Lucas describes ‘painful’ decision to sell Lucasfilm to Disney

'I've spent my life creating ‘Star Wars’ – 40 years – and giving it up was very, very painful. But it was the right thing to do,’ the filmmaker said in a new book

George Lucas describes ‘painful’ decision to sell Lucasfilm to Disney (Reuters)

George Lucas has revealed why he opted to sell Lucasfilm to Disney, a decision he called "painful."

Lucasfilm, the original Star Wars franchise hub, was sold to Disney in 2012.

The filmmaker spoke to author Paul Duncan for his new book, The Star Wars Archives: Episodes I-III 1999-2005. Duncan shared an excerpt of the book on Twitter, which featured the conversation with Lucas.

"At that time, I was starting the next trilogy; I talked to the actors and I was starting to gear up,” Lucas said. "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."

“In 2012, I was 69,” he continued. "So the question was, ‘Am I going to keep doing this for the rest of my life? Do I want to go through this again?’ Finally, I decided I’d rather raise my daughter and enjoy life for a while."

“I've spent my life creating Star Wars – 40 years – and giving it up was very, very painful,” Lucas went on. "But it was the right thing to do. I thought I was going to have a little bit more to say about the next three [films] because I'd already started them, but they decided they wanted to do something else.

Things don't always work out the way you want it. Life is like that."

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