George Lucas says his original sequel ideas for Star Wars “sort of got lost” when Disney took over

The 70s class of filmmakers who re-shaped cinema with their culture-defining works are seemingly getting some recognition recently. After Killers of the Flower Moon, Martin Scorsese’s stock is as high as ever. Steven Spielberg was recently announced to be revisiting a classic concept with him once again tackling a UFO film. Francis Ford Coppola is back in the spotlight with his ambitious passion project, Megalopolis. And George Lucas is getting honored at the Cannes Film Festival with a Palme d’Or for his contribution to cinema.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Lucas would offer some retrospective about his career while accepting the award. He felt nostalgic about attending Cannes, which is where he presented his first feature, THX-1138, at the Directors’ Fortnight in 1971. He would also, of course, talk about the very film series that is synonymous with him — Star Wars. When speaking about Disney’s purchase of the brand, Lucas would talk about what happened to his former plans for the story and coming to acceptance. Lucas would explain,

I was the only one who really knew what Star Wars was…who actually knew this world, because there’s a lot to it. The force, for example, nobody understood the force. When they started other ones after I sold the company, a lot of the ideas that were in [the original] sort of got lost. But that’s the way it is. You give it up, you give it up.”

The 80-year-old director ultimately concluded with the crowd at the Debussy Theatre at Cannes,

I’m a stubborn guy and I didn’t want people to tell me how to make my movies.”

A Disney+ series that takes place in the universe, The Acolyte, is the newest upcoming content that is coming from the brand. Set hundreds of years before the events of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, The Acolyte takes place during the High Republic era of the franchise. The series stars Amandla Stenberg (Bodies Bodies Bodies), Lee Jung-jae (Squid Game), Manny Jacinto (The Good Place), Dafne Keen (Logan), Charlie Barnett (You), Jodie Turner-Smith (Anne Boleyn), Rebecca Henderson (Russian Doll), Dean-Charles Chapman (Game of Thrones), Joonas Suotamon (Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker), and Carrie-Anne Moss (The Matrix Resurrections).

The logline reads: “An investigation into a shocking crime spree pits a respected Jedi Master (Lee) against a dangerous warrior from his past (Stenberg). As more clues emerge, they travel down a dark path where sinister forces reveal all is not what it seems.” The first reactions to the show had recently hit online.

The Acolyte premieres on Disney+ on June 4.