George Lucas says he’s ‘over STAR WARS’ after Disney took over: ‘I have a life. I’m building a museum.’

More than a decade has passed since then George Lucas sold Lucasfilm to Disney for $4 billion, handing its beloved galaxy far, far away to new creative leadership.

Now, at 81, Lucas says he has completely moved on Star Warsand he seems perfectly satisfied with it.

In a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, the legendary director talked about how his focus these days isn’t on the Jedi or lightsabers, but on the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, a passion project that reportedly cost him around $1 billion to bring to life.

The museum, which opens in Los Angeles next year, is designed to celebrate storytelling through art rather than film specifically.

While the name “Lucas” might make people expect a Star Wars showcase, the A New Hope director has made it clear that that’s not what he wants.

“It’s one gallery out of 33. And I did it reluctantly,” Lucas said. “I didn’t want people to come to the museum and say, ‘Where is he? Star Wars?’”

There will be nods to his space saga, including an N-1 Starfighter Star Wars: The Phantom Menacebut that’s all. Lucas doesn’t want his museum to be defined by a franchise, no matter how iconic it is.

When asked how he feels Star Wars Lucas didn’t mince his words today. “Disney took control and gave him his vision. That’s what happens. Obviously I’m over it. I mean, I have a life. I’m building a museum. A museum is harder than making movies.”

It’s a direct acknowledgment from a man who has spent the last decade quietly distancing himself from the universe he created. Although he has occasionally visited the set since the sale, Lucas has largely avoided commenting on the direction of the franchise.

When Disney purchased Lucasfilm, there were early plans to use Lucas’ drafts for the sequel trilogy, but ultimately the studio chose a different path, which led to The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, AND The Rise of Skywalker.

Those films divided fans and left many wondering what Lucas’ version of the story would have been. In a previous interview, he reflected on how his vision for Star Wars was lost after the handover:

“I was the one who really knew what Star Wars it was…who really knew this world, because there is a lot to do,” he said.

“The Force, for example, no one understood. When they started others after I sold the company, many of the ideas that were in my mind [the original] in a certain sense he got lost. But that’s how things are. You give up, you give up.

As for the current state of Lucasfilm, fans have expressed frustration with the way the franchise has been handled under President Kathleen Kennedy. With Kennedy expected to resign at some point, Dave Filonithe studio’s creative director and one of Lucas’ protégés, is said to be the favorite to take over.

If that happened, it would put a narrator back in charge of the galaxy Lucas built.

But don’t expect Lucas himself to return for another adventure in the Star Wars universe. He is happy to focus on his museum.

For a guy who changed cinema, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art is like the perfect next chapter: one where storytelling still reigns supreme, just in a different form.