Or he's just creatively bankrupt and needs Spielberg to prop up his sorry ass.

I always wondered, out of such an enormous timeline and an entire galaxy, Lucas insists on focusing on such a finite part of it. He could pick anything from a few thousand years BBY to a hundred after, but he seems totally uninterested.

Lucas love vader... lucas loves vader...

I don't believe there are actual ponies at Skywalker Ranch. At least, I didn't see any when I was there.

That's right, bitches!! I've been to Skywalker Ranch.

@extracrisly: I'm very jealous...and kidding about the ponies. Obviously he raises has tauntauns in a massive freezer paid for from Episode I toy revenue.

@ Meredith:
"An ever-expanding middle"...Did you just call Star Wars fat?

@Meredith Woerner: Thursdays are tauntaun day at the employee cafeteria.

@Plague: Ah Plague, I do so enjoy your cynicism!!

@Dr. Futurity: "That's no moon."

Really? You mean to say that Episodes IV - VI were written about Darth Vader? I could have sworn that in the real world he didn't have that much screen time...

Oy, I just don't like the idea of giving any sort of credibility to the "expanded universe". Sure, the stories are neat, but it's essentially the same as PAYING FOR FANFIC. Lucas should consider writing outlines for three more movies, hand them off to someone capable, and give us the Star Wars films we always desired - Luke as a badass with esper Anakin and Obi guiding him, Han and Leia having super powerful kids with Uncle Chewie throwing them around, and clones of Palpatine not only gathering new Sith but also eventually going to war with one another. That's the Star Wars people want to see!

All the EU ever seems to be is war war war war war war war war with a little bit of family drama thrown in for good measure. They must have some good restaurants or something to keep getting all that attention from invaders beyond the galaxy.

"Let me see you... with my...own eyes"
*Mask hisses*
"You sure do got a purty mouth on you"

@Fwiffo: It isn't the restaurants...

Its the tauntauns... They smell bad on the outside, but the taste great on the inside!

UGH see what's really infuriating about this line of bullshit is that the clone wars do NOT have as many stories to be told as he claims. i mean, "we see a little of the beginning and a little of the end"??? he already freaking made not one but TWO clone wars tv series and not one but TWO clone wars videogames. we've seen PLENTY of the clone wars already. they're gonna run out of battle pretty goddamn fast.

i guess then we get to move on to the ever-thrilling tales of boba fett, the guy so badass that... uh... oh wait, he's not badass at all. he just has a gun and an interesting mask.

This is such good news. It means he won't be able to ruin the great characters from the original trilogy, at least not anymore than he did in the prequels. And I thought the "saga" was already widely accepted as being All About Anakin? That's how I've always seen it, at least. Despite the horrible Anakin performances from the prequels, I think it's rather touching, when viewed from that perspective.

I'm really sick of padding out the prequel era, though. It's all really boring, and the Jedi aren't nearly as interesting in Lucas' material as they are in... everyone else's.

@Dr. Futurity: Have you seen the Wookieepedia? It's like Jabba the Hutt in wiki form.

Whatever keeps George busy, I always say. He can talk about Vader/Anakin being the center of the story all he wants, but the only reason I'm going to see The Clone Wars on opening day is that I'll just happen to be at a con with all my SW-loving friends. Whereas I've been buying the post-ROTJ stuff ASAP for years. Sure, it's all a mixed bag, but that's SW for you.

found this a few days ago

[secrethistoryofstarwars.com]

"The Secret History of Star Wars is a new full-length e-book exploring the writing and creation of the Star Wars saga. Culled from over 400 sources and filled with quotes from people such as George Lucas, Gary Kurtz and Mark Hamill, The Secret History of Star Wars traces all the way back to 1973 to examine how the first 14-page treatment that began the series came to be and was slowly built, draft by draft, year by year and movie by movie. Covering a period of over four decades, you will discover how George Lucas got his ideas for the original film, how Darth Vader was made into Luke Skywalker's father in 1978 and forever altered the arc of the story, what happened to the infamous third trilogy in the series and how the prequel stories came to be. The book also reveals the style and method of Lucas himself and how his personal life affected and shaped the story, for better and worse. This is a book which challenges many legends surrounding the series and places the films in a new light. For the more casual fan this will be a mesmerising read and for those who think they know everything about the series, prepare to be surprised!"

I guess I'm the only one who has never seen that video before. That is the funniest damn video I have ever seen in my life -- and yes, that's the first time I've ever said that. I laughed so hard I got tears in my eyes. Nice antidote to a long day.

As for the expanded universe, feh!

As for that "creatively bankrupt" stuff, feh! Those six movies -- hell, either three -- are more creativity than 99.99999 percent of the people ever born will ever be able to claim. More than the vast majority of movie makers will ever be able to claim (how much creativity does it take to make the next buddy cop flick, the next teen angst flick, the next talking cute animals flick...). Personally, I wish I had one trick that good up my sleeve, whether I ever got rich from it or not. So the stars aligned and he got insanely rich from it. It could have gone to the studio fat cats and their evil corporate overlords like the profit of so many people's creativity does. Better this way.

Im worried that he will add more filler and destroy the great characters. Give Han Solo a cute little back story with talking robots.

We should boycott the clonewars movie. Take starwars away from the George "midiclorian" Lucas and give it to the fans.

Yeesh! Enough Star Wars. I'll be happy to never see another piece of Star Wars media in my life.

@1369ic:

Hmm. This statement leads me to suspect that the writer has not watched much besides Star Wars and Star Wars based material, if that is what they consider the height of "creativity". Hint: having fun while watching a movie is not the same as creativity in a movie, although they can coincide.

@TommySez: I must agree.

I should mention here that I was a hardcore SW fan as a teenager.

Lucas' writing and directing... and editing...well, everything -- has always seemed to me to be pretty much 100% cribbed from others. He's more of a master of creating an amalgam of cultural referents than coming up with anything original. Don't get me wrong, the original SW movie and ESB were fun and even pretty well written, for what it was.

The prequels have the distinction of containing some of the most appalling, embarrasingly lame dialogue in the history of cinema.

@Cacafuego: Actually, I've been reading and watching science fiction since before the moon landing. There was a time when I could talk about any science fiction writer of consequence, though that long ago ceased to be the case.

But I realize all that is meaningless, because even widely read Philistines are still Philistines if they don't get it. My real point is that you have put words in my mouth. I never said either trilogy was the height of anything. What I said was that either trilogy was "more creativity than 99.99999 percent of the people ever born will ever be able to claim."

Granted, I probably went a little crazy with the 9s after the decimal point, but not that crazy. Even today many, if not most, people still live lives that are "nasty, brutish and short," leaving little time for the imagining of even one movie's worth of epic adventure. If you've managed to think up three movies' worth of stuff and had them become famous the world over, I'd say you can lay claim to more than your fair share.

And the creativity I was talking about is simply making up worlds and people and the actions that take place between them. If they never existed and you thought them up, you have by definition been creative. Whether or not you've done a particularly good job is something we can argue about all night.

So here's a little hint back atcha: It's not a particularly good rhetorical technique to pull a claim out of your ass, attribute it to someone else and then chide them for having made it (it is, however, a popular technique if you're running for office or covering people who are. You don't want to be like them, do you?).

See, now I've lost that great laugh high I got from watching that video three times straight. Lookit you done!

@Gospel X: oh hell yes! bring it to the screen!

not gonna happen. lucas has proved he's a total putz so very many times. . . .

Meh. I liked Vader in the first trilogy, though Luke and Leia were the characters that cinched it for me, but if you accept the prequels as canon then it really ruins Vader in my opinion. They take him from being an incredibly capable, wily, and powerful warrior with a mysterious and menacing past to being a whiny, mostly incompetent, self-obsessed, easy to fool jerk with a rather mundane past which only explains how he got to where he was in the most pat of ways(and retcons [amoung other things] Obi Wan's critique of Vader from A New Hope where he implies Vader's mechanization was a willful rejection of his humanity). And they downgrade his badness by making him a crappy fighter.

That's why I just pretend those movies were never made :)

Since when is vader a referee?

All I know is if you give Han and Leia kids in the SW Universe, there is no reason you need to be killing them off. Damn your storytelling approach, there is no FRACKING reason.

F Off, New Jedi Order.

@Gospel X: Yeah, I don't remember 'Shadows of the Empire' being all that Vader/Anakin centric either. I think he is just talking star-smack again while he stuffs another mattress full of cash...

@Spoony Bard:
:applause:

Glad I'm not the only one that feels that way. The only stuff I enjoyed was Timothy Zahn's novels. The rest seems to be very...emo? (sic?)

@Spacehamster: Yep. I actually enjoyed everything until Zahn's bookend.

The day they killed Chewie was the day I put the books down. I never looked back :)

I always wondered how Zahn and others felt about Delray killing off the characters they had created, like Mara Jade and both of Han & Leia's sons.

@Spoony Bard: Well they all have to die sometime. Why should they have to be all old and wrinkly to die?

I like George Lucas, and i love Star Wars. Even attended a few star wars cons. But George damnit! Please for the love of god make the last trilogy! or at least make someone else do it for you and then leave it at that.

So let someone else make a new "Star Wars," with all the great effects, but with strong writing and acting. Make it fun, but rip off lots of other writer's ideas, just like Lucus has. There isn't an original idea in Star Wars, just re-packaged basic story telling with lots of action and effects. Screw Lucas and his limited abilities. Someone, make the frakking Ringworld movie already! There should be enough going on in that Universe to keep the movies churning out for the next fifty years.

@AngryLagomorph: What he said. Exactly.

I would like to see a KOTOR movie.
I can't be alone in this...

I too have an expanding middle, so I had to stop eating at the Indian Buffet...

Whatever y'all. I'm digging the expanded universe and looking forward to the Clone Wars.

@russdanger: Unfortunately, this would somewhat kill KOTOR as a video game franchise.

Part of what makes it so great is that it happens such a long time ago when compared to the rest of the material that it's irrelevant whether or not your particular story is canon.

@Spoony Bard: The death of Anakin Solo, aside from George not wanting another Anakin to be in the spotlight, was to show that just because a main character is there he is NOT immortal.

@loserface: I am a huge fan of the EU, and also cannot wait for the Clone Wars.

@Jeff-Minor: The problem with 'Ringworld' is the back story- too huge. How could you explain Teela without the entire Known Space History? Now, Neutron Star ala the Twilight Zone Movie would set the stage and stand alone, as well.
Not that I would like it, as the mental picture I have of these tales would be betrayed by Hollywood, just like the Twilight Zone movie.
I guess I'll stick to the printed page/pixel.

The KOTOR XBox games are better than any of the movies by far. But i'm not a big Star Wars fan...

he pissed me off when He decided not to release the original trilogy on DVD. Such crap.

But I am looking forward to the live action show (if it ever happens), because I think better writers will be in the drivers seat.

Oh and you know what are good books, the Xwing squadron, following the adventures of Wedge Antilles after Jedi

@1369ic:
Dude. How do you find time to post? I'd think running the Android's Dungeon/castigating 3rd graders for their taste in pop culture would make posting lengthy screeds online difficult. Although knowing you're the same age as I am, if not older, just makes the comments even sadder.

@Shyguy: Yes, that's what they said about Chewbacca too.

And then Anakin Solo.

And then Jacen Solo.

And Mara Jade.

I mean, where does it stop? I understand wanting to inject some drama into the series, but it's a poor way to do it. At a certain point it just gets ridiculous.

There's also the fact that the main characters are now damn near immortal while all the EU characters are prone to sudden death. That's poor storytelling.

I mean, this is not 24, it's STAR WARS. Why do people like SW? Not because they keep killing characters, I'll tell you that.

@Cacafuego: You wound me, sir. I castigate 3rd graders for their rhetorical shortcomings. It's easy to spot their responses because they are usually of the "you're fat and ugly" variety and veer sharply away from the actual subject. Perhaps someone in the class could point one out?

I'd rather them go to the Dark Era of Star Wars.
For example the Sith Wars.
It'll give a fresh look into the SW history.

@victheremin: I'm sorry guys. You can say what you want about Lucas, but the day that Episode 4 came out, and I didn't know what to expect, sitting in the darkened theater. The scrolling title seemed a little hokey and then a spaceship comes from the foreground (pretty good)then this big ass mother star destroyer just keeps coming and coming. I was hooked.