Rumor: George Lucas Still Owns Star Wars?

After Disney purchased Star Wars many a geek believed George Lucas would no longer be involved with the happenings in a galaxy far, far away. We’ve just learned of explosive new rumors that prove otherwise. Join us after the break to discover why The Maker may be more involved in Disney-era Star Wars than you think.

We all know that on October 30th, 2012 entertainment powerhouse Disney bought Star Wars from creator George Lucas for a breathtaking 4 billion dollars — 2 billion in cold hard cash and 2 billion in Disney stocks and bonds. We also learned that there would be at least 5 new Star Wars movies consisting of a new trilogy and 2-3 spin off films.

Upon hearing the news, most people were excited to have new life breathed into the Star Wars franchise. Let’s face it, after the Prequel Trilogy there was a disturbance in the force, “As if millions of voices cried out in terror.” The fan backlash took the internet by surprise and the George Lucas bashing began.

Lucas quickly grew tired of being fandom’s whipping boy and began making moves to unload the franchise, and preserve its future. Before selling to Disney, the director went to great lengths to make sure Star Wars was in the best of hands. He hired Kathleen Kennedy as President of Lucasfilm. He hired Michael Arndt to write the script and made sure the “Big 3” of Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher were all on board for a new Sequel Trilogy before any deal with Disney was proposed.

Unfortunately since Disney took ownership, it seems they have gone out of their way to distance themselves from Lucas. They fired Michael Arndt, and have made it very clear that they are using more practical effects in the shooting of The Force Awakens despite Lucas’ history of pioneering digital effects. Disney also hired JJ Abrams to direct the next installment of the franchise. They even went so far as to ditch George Lucas’ very own story treatments in favor of a new story conceived by JJ Abrams and Empire Strikes Back scribe Lawrence Kasdan.

Here comes the Phantom Menace-like twist! What you may not know is that 2 billion in stocks and bonds makes Lucas one of the largest Disney shareholders, second only to the Steve Jobs family. In other words, the creator of Star Wars has a huge influence on any and all decisions made by Disney. In fact, The Bearded One is as involved in the Sequel Trilogy as he was in the Prequel Trilogy. 

The extent of Lucas’ masterful scheme is astounding. The sale to Disney, the distancing themselves from him for fear of more fan backlash — even Force Friday — all of it was part of Lucas’ plan.