Will Lucas Extend His 'Star Wars' Story Beyond 'Return of the Jedi'?

Posted May 7th 2008 1:32PM by Erik Davis
Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, RumorMonger, Fandom, DIY/Filmmaking, Newsstand, George Lucas, Remakes and Sequels

Now that George Lucas and his crew are preparing to launch the first big-screen Star Wars flick in all CGI, some folks are wondering whether that means he'd be down to eventually continue the saga where Return of the Jedi left off -- especially since it wouldn't be hard to bring back original actors like Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher to do the voice work. Fans, of course, would publicly bash such a move ... even if they'd secretly been wishing for the return of Luke, Leia and Han for years. So, would Lucas do it? Is he considering it?

In a new interview with the Los Angeles Times, the Sith King himself claims there will be no such film from him. Lucas says, "There really isn't any story to tell there. It's been covered in the books and video games and comic books, which are things I think are incredibly creative but that I don't really have anything to do with other than being the person who built the sandbox they're playing in." He continues, "I get asked all the time, 'What happens after "Return of the Jedi"?,' and there really is no answer for that. The movies were the story of Anakin Skywalker and Luke Skywalker, and when Luke saves the galaxy and redeems his father, that's where that story ends." Star Wars: The Clone Wars arrives in theaters on August 15, then heads to Cartoon Network and TNT for a weekly series.

Would you rather see a CGI Star Wars flick that takes place during The Clone Wars or after Return of the Jedi?

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

5-07-2008 @ 1:43PM

Enrique said...

Ouch. The title of this story is painful. 'Passed?'

5-07-2008 @ 1:45PM

Erik Davis said...

Ouch is right. I completely missed it; thanks for the pick up.

5-07-2008 @ 2:06PM

Enrique said...

No problem - Ahh it's much better now :)

5-07-2008 @ 2:09PM

eugene said...

Just let it die already. The various star wars books are mostly horrible to awful... "oh no, another death star! Han and leia struggle to keep the fledgling new republic together as luke searches for some Jedi-something-something".

Followed by, "oh no, a weapon more devastating than the death star! Han and leia struggle to keep the fledgling new republic together as luke searches for some Jedi-something-something".

Followed by, "oh no, an alien race more devastating than the empire! Han and leia struggle to keep the fledgling new republic together as luke searches for some Jedi-something-something".

For me, the magic died the moment Oscar Schindler announced that jedis got their power from a blood infection.

5-07-2008 @ 6:53PM

cough said...

haha, oscar schindler.

I never remember his name!
Liam Neeson, there we go.

5-07-2008 @ 2:12PM

Bob said...

eugene, the magic died for me when i realized you were a dick.

5-07-2008 @ 2:16PM

eugene said...

oh noes, I mad Bob mad! Ordinarily I'd be afraid of you attacking me with your target flow in the dark lightsaber but last I heard your mom wanted you to the dishes and you were afraid to come out of the basement... oh sorry, your "man cave".

5-07-2008 @ 2:35PM

LiqwidZero said...

I'd rather have Spielberg direct a new Star Wars movie. George would just fuck it up.

Lucas = too many CG effects
Spielberg = traditional

5-07-2008 @ 2:41PM

Jonathan said...

If it were a realistic looking CGI (3D) and not an animation look, maybe. Always comes back to the story.
But didnt' Lucas always say that it was a series of 3 trilogies? So he must have some idea for 6-9.

5-07-2008 @ 3:03PM

Ben said...

Grand Admiral Thrawn trilogy was fantastic. The writing was far better than that of the prequels. Grand Admiral Thrawn was a worthy villan, and the story continued really well.

I'll concede Star Wars books have gotten a little lame, but the first two post Star Wars book trilogies (Thrawn and the Kip Duron Maw story) would make fantastic movies.

Give them to some gritty director and stick to the fantastic plots already laid out and you'd have three fucking fantastic movies.

One day I'll convince George Lucas to give me a shot.

5-07-2008 @ 3:06PM

Mr.R said...

I think the only way any non geek would go back to loving Star Wars as they did when those first movies is if they just jump leaped in time and got rid of all that Clone nonsense and all the constant prequel, keep milking the old bag crap. You can tell Lucas can't seem to get his failure out of his head by going back to Clones over and over again, uselessly. He needs to find a good story line, long after everyone died, up the technology and attires and hire a young director with a vision. It worked for Batman in a different level and look at the franchise, as good as new.

5-07-2008 @ 3:10PM

Joshua said...

I agree with George i want him to have nothing to do with the next three other than sit back, collect royalty checks, and marvel in the world he created... now i am not saying there shouldn't be a next three, exactly the opposite. There should be three more with the story of mara jade and Han and Leia's children they can do it live action or cgi it doesn't matter to me. I would perfer live action that would be fin even if they don't use original actors. people would just have to take that leap... you know let new actors play old characters.

5-07-2008 @ 3:25PM

Brian Kirchhoff said...

Let's face it... All we REALLY want are a couple of cool live action "trailers" for another trilogy.

Minute-for-Minute they've been the best thing out of LucasFilm since the original trilogy.

5-07-2008 @ 4:08PM

hunterart_2000 said...

Everyone's comments are pretty much hitting the nail on the head. Leave it alone, move on...(sigh) just move on. Come up with something else, stop riding on a tired and barely nostalgic franchise. It would be wise, if not for yourself George, than for everyone else in the world (galaxy if you will), to begin anew. Show us you're more than a repeater. It did well in the past, it brought you to the lucas empire you reign in today, so great. Now give us something new. Or else, you're already finished as far as I'm concerned.

5-07-2008 @ 4:21PM

RC said...

Grand Admiral Thrawn is a strategic genius. He makes Darth Vader look like an idiot. I'd love to see that trilogy in movies, either real or CG.

http://bitsmack.com

6-20-2008 @ 2:25AM

ronbond007 said...

I want nothing more than Lucas to do the further adventures of Luke Skywalker,Han Solo and Princess Leia Post-Return of the Jedi because I want to see Luke Skywalker as an older,wiser Jedi Master passing on the torch to a new generation of Jedi Knights or a new protege and to see the New Republic rebuilt and also to see Han and Leia back but married with kids and grandkids. Maybe Han could pass on the Millennium Falcon to his daughter Jaina Solo.

I think the upcoming Star Wars novel Millennium Falcon by James Luceno set two years after Legacy of the Force would make an awesome CGI epilogue/Han Solo spinoff movie where Han,Leia and their granddaughter Allana Solo learn the history of the Falcon while facing a new dark threat to Luke's New Jedi Order and the Force.

I think a Post-Jedi CGI epilogue movie would be awesome where Luke,Han and Leia pass on the torch to others ie.children,new Jedis etc. I want to the SW saga to end that way and not just the Ewok celebration. Lucas doesn't have to do a sequel trilogy but at least do a epilogue post-Jedi movie or animated series.

If Lucas doesn't do anything post-Jedi he should at least do a CGI series based on Han Solo's early adventures pre-ANH by Brian Daley and Ann Crispin(How he met Chewie,won the Falcon from Lando,making the Kessel run etc.) or do a CGI animated series based on the SW Marvel Comic series from 1977-1986 or even Shadows of the Empire.