ANGELA WEISS/AFP/Getty ImagesEver since the Star Wars sequel trilogy tried to bring George Lucas’ beloved galaxy into the modern era — only to fail spectacularly — the franchise has been in disarray. Lucasfilm seems to care more about appeasing its fans, who’ve grown more vocal and entitled by the day, than about challenging the status quo. It’s been unbelievably frustrating to watch, and it’s hard to believe that anything can truly save the saga now. There was a time, however, when Damon Lindelof (the mind behind heady TV hits like Lost and HBO’s Watchmen) was poised to make a Star Wars movie that would have done just that.Lindelof’s Star Wars movie would have mirrored the battle between the Dark Side and the Light with the internal struggles that have plagued the fandom for years. “There is a force of nostalgia, and there is a force of revision, and they are at odds with one another,” he told The Ringer-Verse podcast in May. “Let’s do the Protestant Reformation inside Star Wars.”That angle would have been perfect after so much strife and spinning of wheels, but sadly, it wasn’t to be. Lindelof was “fired” two years after Lucasfilm tapped him to develop this sequel to the sequels, and the films that have sprung up instead have only reinforced the franchise’s “nostalgia first, disruption dead-last” approach to storytelling. Disappointing as the studio’s risk-averse new outlook is, though, it’s worth noting Lucasfilm isn’t the only studio making decisions out of fear. Most of Hollywood’s heaviest hitters have followed suit — and ironically, George Lucas himself has summed up that dilemma pretty succinctly.Lucas on the set of Revenge of the Sith. | Lucasfilm/Merrick MortonLucas hasn’t sat behind the camera since directing Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith in the 2000s, but his experience on the set of that film (and the films that came before it) sounds a lot like the experiences that filmmakers are experiencing today. A new interview from A Rabbit’s Foot paints Lucas as a director misunderstood by studio execs and audiences alike: producers “hated” his seminal debut film, THX 1138, and seemed just as perturbed by his follow-up, American Graffiti. “With American Graffiti, they said, ‘Well, nothing happens,’” Lucas recalled. Then it became one of the most profitable films ever made.That trend continued even after Lucas proved himself with Star Wars. “At the beginning there was a huge push for me to get rid of C-3PO, and then in [Return of the Jedi] people said the same thing about Ewoks,” the filmmaker said. “The critics and the fans who were 10 years old when they saw the first one and 13 when they saw the second one complained that they didn’t want to see a children’s film.”Lucas has long maintained that the Star Wars saga is designed for younger audiences — but even so, he’s never been all that perturbed by the backlash. “The audience doesn’t know what they want to see,” Lucas continued. “If they don’t like a character, that’s interesting, and as a filmmaker I want to find out why. But when the studios hear that, they take the wrong message. They let the audience actually make the movie.”The Star Wars sequels were mired by the same red tape that Lucas has been facing all his life. | LucasfilmLately, Lucas believes that studios have gone “crazy” with that notion. “Now, it’s all about what the fans think.” Unfortunately, that’s not hyperbole: in 2024, a report from Variety revealed that some studios have assembled “a specialized cluster of superfans” to form focus groups, advise on marketing materials, and help projects steer clear of backlash on social media. “That isn’t how you make the movie,” Lucas told A Rabbit’s Foot. “You make a movie by finding someone that knows how to make movies, that has a story to tell and is passionate about it.”It should be as simple as that, but Lucas’ tenure in Hollywood shows us how frustrating and fickle the process has always been. The trends we’ve seen plaguing franchises like Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and Marvel aren’t new, but studios are bending to their whims en masse for what feels like the first time. It’s no wonder Lucas has been semi-retired since 2012, but you can’t help but wonder what Lucasfilm would look like now if he were still at its helm.