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George Lucas directed the first Star Wars movie Episode IV - A New Hope (1977), after that he directed the Star Wars prequel trilogy with Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999), Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002), and Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005). Other Star Wars movies have been directed by other directors.

So my question is, why is George Lucas not directing any more Star Wars movies? I want to know if George Lucas is the only person who has all the rights for Star Wars.

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    There seem to be two questions here. Are you asking why George Lucas doesn't direct new Star Wars movies, or who owns the rights to Star Wars?
    – kuhl
    Jul 20, 2016 at 12:46
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    @kuhl, 2nd question is a sub question. i cannot ask 2nd one separate because its a small question.
    – user34693
    Jul 20, 2016 at 12:48
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    @kuhl The questions seem very closely-connected, though.
    – Napoleon Wilson ♦
    Jul 20, 2016 at 12:48
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    Because there is a God.
    – MattD
    Dec 19, 2016 at 22:13

1 Answer 1

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The Walt Disney Company (Disney) bought Lucasfilm Ltd. including its subsidiaries in 2012 for roughly $4 billion USD.

Star Wars was a property owned by Lucasfilm and so is now under control of Disney Management. For more information, see this USA Today article and this Bloomberg article.

As for George Lucas not being in the Director's chair for Episodes V an VI, it seems to have been a personal decision for him.

"I dislike directing. I hate the constant dealing with volatile personalities. Directing is emotional frustration, anger, and tremendously hard work - seven days a week, twelve to sixteen hours a day. For years my wife would ask why we couldn't go out to dinner like other people. But I couldn't turn it off. Eventually, I realized that directing simply wasn't healthy for me."

- George Lucas: Interviews Edited by Sally Fine 1983

But, prior to the prequel trilogy he seemed to have changed his mind...

"It's not that I prefer producing, that's just where I find myself these days. It wasn't something I did by choice. I was just more effective in the producing area, which is where the opportunities have presented themselves in the last few years...Ultimately, I'm a director. I've done many things, but that's where my heart is...I just want to get back to what I started doing.

- George Lucas: Interviews Edited by Sally Fine 1983

Also, we have some good questions and answers over on SFF.SE that related to "who, what, when, where, why" of George Lucas' involvement going forward.

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    Do you have any more information about Lucas' role in the Star Wars franchise and why he still did not direct the new movies (apart from mere links elsewhere)? He could still be employed by Disney as a director seeing that those films were originally his creation.
    – Napoleon Wilson ♦
    Jul 20, 2016 at 13:01
  • there is at least one interview where Lucas talked about walking away from TFA when they rejected his script but I can't find it at the moment...
    – KutuluMike
    Jul 20, 2016 at 13:14
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    @Skooba - Can you edit and put links to the two interviews cited?
    – Johnny Bones
    Jul 20, 2016 at 13:30
  • "I dislike directing." - don't think it likes you all that much, either, George. And that mutual dislike shows. He's really horrible at normal human interaction... especially where any emotions are required.
    – PoloHoleSet
    Dec 27, 2017 at 17:07
  • @PoloHoleSet ...apparently, so is Rian Johnson. Lucas' writing for SW has always been quite suspect at the dialogue level. But, even Jar-Jar Binks would have immeasurably improved the turd of an exploitation of Star Wars that TLJ was. You could ignore Jar Jar and enjoy the story. There was no story whatsoever to TLJ.
    – K. Alan Bates
    Jan 17, 2018 at 17:41

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