Star Wars franchise creator George Lucas has explained his recent comments, widely reported across the Internet, suggesting that he considered Star Wars: The Force Awakens to be overly “retro”.
Lucas, who was not creatively involved with the film, had complained, in an interview with talk show host Charlie Rose, that Disney “wanted to do a retro movie”, adding: “I don’t like that”. In an especially unflattering reference to Disney, he despaired that, in passing over the Star Wars torch to the studio, he had sold his “kids … to the white slavers that take these things”.
However, in a new statement released via Disney, Lucas said that he “misspoke and used a very inappropriate analogy and for that I apologize.” He further insisted that “Disney is doing an incredible job of taking care of and expanding the franchise”, adding: “I’m blown away with the record breaking blockbuster success of the new movie and am very proud of JJ [Abrams] and Kathy [Kennedy].”
The Force Awakens has so far pulled in $629 million at the domestic box office and attracted huge acclaim from critics, leading to a 94% rating on the film reviews aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes.