"Star Wars" creator George Lucas recently revealed in an interview with CBS News that he had planned to make three more films in the franchise before stepping away from filmmaking. Ultimately, however, he chose to retire and devote himself to bringing the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art to life.
Discussing the museum's creation, Lucas said that committing to the project meant retiring from filmmaking—a major decision because he still had three more "Star Wars" movies he intended to make.
He explained that he gradually realized his time was limited, forcing him to choose between continuing his film career and completing the museum he had envisioned for years.
"I realized I was running out of time, and I really wanted to get this museum finished," Lucas said.
Lucas spoke about his ideas for a "Star Wars" sequel trilogy several times over the years, though those plans continued to evolve. Some early concepts—including Luke Skywalker having a sister and eventually facing Emperor Palpatine in a final showdown—were later reworked into "Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi."
Lucas sold Lucasfilm to Disney for approximately $4 billion in 2012, leaving the studio to produce the sequel trilogy. Disney's films still followed some ideas similar to Lucas' early plans, including setting the story roughly 30 years after "Return of the Jedi" and bringing back Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher.
Lucas had also envisioned an older Luke who would be "more detached and ethereal," potentially existing on another plane—an idea that bears some resemblance to the character's eventual arc in the sequel trilogy.
For Lucas, walking away from those three films also brought his plan to personally complete all nine chapters of the Skywalker Saga to an end. Instead, he dedicated a major part of his retirement to a museum devoted to preserving narrative art and film culture.