History WhatCouldHaveBeen / StarWars

* After the success of the first film, Lucas entertained the sieres was going to be composed of ''twelve'' films divided into four trilogies, of which the original film would be ''Episode IV''. Lucas has gone back and forth about what would the films entail, but the most consistent version is that two of the the trilogies would have Luke defeating the Empire and learning further about the Force, one would have been a prequel series portraying the past of Vader and Obi-Wan, and the fourth, according to Mark Hamill, would feature a younger generation whom Luke had passed the torch to. After shooting ''Empire Strikes Back'', however, Lucas decided to reduce the saga to "only" three trilogies, closing it with the death of the Emperor at ''Episode IX'' (though the New Republic itself might start being rebuilt earlier, in ''Episode VII'') and planning to make possibly a couple standalone films if he had the chance. During the production of ''Return of the Jedi'', then, he decided to end the franchise right there, so he killed the Emperor in the same film and closed all the subplots. It was in 1990 when technical advances in CGI (mainly represented by ''Film/JurassicPark'') motivated him to continue the saga, choosing to make next his planned prequel trilogy.

* One that stands not just for this series, but for the franchise as a whole: Lucas had been attempting to work on the show for years, but no TV studio or network was willing to provide the costs for the show. Before selling the company to Disney, Lucas had considered giving up the middleman and building a new studio for the series himself on land he had purchased near Skywalker Ranch. But the government of Marin County wouldn't let him build film production space in an area that was zoned to be a residential street, and their refusal to give him a permit to build the studio was what led to the project's indefinite postponement. The Marin County zoning board's final decision again Lucas happened just before The Maker attended the opening to the revamped ''Ride/StarTours'' at Disney World, where Bob Iger privately asked him if he was willing to consider selling to Disney...and since the Marin County government's decision killed the last chance to get ''Underworld'' made, he told him that he was open to negotiate a sale because he felt that it was time to move on. [[ContrivedCoincidence If it wasn't for Bay Area zoning laws, not only would we have gotten ''Underworld'', but Lucas might not have sold his company to Disney to begin with]]. [[note]] If you're wondering, he turned the land that would've been the new studio into a housing development for low-income families. Housing prices in the San Francisco Bay Area are sky high, and Marin County in particular being one of America's most expensive places to live in, with affordable housing being extremely scarce. It's not hard to interpret his sudden interest in building affordable housing in his neighborhood [[TakeThat a subtle dig at the Marin County zoning board for screwing around with him when they probably should've done something about the housing crisis]] [[/note]]

* In 1976, at the point in which Lucas planned the entire story, the saga was going to be composed of ''twelve'' films divided into four trilogies, of which the original film would be ''Episode IV''. Two of them would have Luke learning further about the Force, one would have been a prequel series portraying the past of Vader and Obi-Wan, and the fourth, according to Mark Hamill, would feature a younger generation whom Luke had passed the torch to. In 1980, after the release of ''Empire Strikes Back'', Lucas decided to reduce the saga to "only" three trilogies, closing it with the death of the Emperor at ''Episode IX'' (though the New Republic itself might start being rebuilt earlier, in ''Episode VII'') and planning to make possibly a couple standalone films if he had the chance. During the production of ''Return of the Jedi'', however, he decided to end the franchise right there, so he killed the Emperor in the same film and closed all the subplots. It was in 1990 when technical advances in CGI (mainly represented by ''Film/JurassicPark'') motivated him to continue the saga, choosing to make next his planned prequel trilogy.

* Lucas's conception of the Force was not as black and white as it turned out in the movies. Originally Jedi (and Sith) used both the Light and Dark Side of The Force. This lasted well into the production of ''The Empire Strikes Back'' where Lucas's notes mention that telekinesis is a Dark Side power and a Jedi who uses it too much will become imbalanced. This is illustrated in ''A New Hope'' when Obi-Wan notes that The Force both controls the actions of a Jedi and obeys their commands; if a Jedi continually imposes their will on The Force and never allows themselves to be controlled by it, massive imbalance will result. Also the Sith were not really evil, it was just that the Jedi and Sith were rival clans who saw The Force in different ways. The Evil in the story came from the inhumanity of The Empire and its bureaucrats.

* ''[[http://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Wars_Detours Star Wars Detours]]''. Made by the same people that created ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'', the show was meant to be a parody of ''Star Wars''. But due to {{Creator/Disney}} buying the franchise, they decided to scrap the idea. However Creator/SethGreen has stated that 39 episodes were made, just not released.

* [[https://web.archive.org/web/20040603120517/http://www.ugo.com/channels/comics/features/starwars/ According]] to Tom Veitch, in the 90s Lucas directed the plot of the comic book ''ComicBook/DarkEmpire'', approving the basic premise and driving forward the plot point of Sidious returning in cloned bodies. It was rumored at least since [[https://boards.theforce.net/threads/george-lucas-and-dark-empire.6576863/ 2001]] that Lucas saw the series as the closest to his sequel trilogy, and while this has not been confirmed outright (although an insider [[https://boards.theforce.net/threads/dark-empire-one-of-the-worst-things-to-happen-to-star-wars-ever-a-discussion-on-star-wars-canon.22367640/#post-22367842 claimed so]]), he certainly went to use CloningBlues and Force manipulation of life again in the prequels.

* Creator/PeterDavid was initially tapped to write the first ''Star Wars: Infinities'' mini-series, which would have adapted ''Film/ANewHope''. The comic would have seen Uncle Owen buying R5-D4 instead of R2-D2, which would have set off a chain of events that ended with Princess Leia usurping Darth Vader and the Emperor, and becoming a Sith Lord and the new ruler of the galaxy. She also would have taken on Luke as her apprentice and lover (since neither of them knew they were related). Understandably, Lucasfilm objected to the dark tone and the depiction of BrotherSisterIncest.

* Director Creator/PattyJenkins and producer Creator/KevinFeige were originally tapped to helm their own separate ''Star Wars'' films, with Jenkins set to direct a ''Rogue Squadron'' movie. After a period of DevelopmentHell and silence from most involved parties, Lucasfilm announced in March 2023 that both movies were cancelled.

* Director Creator/PattyJenkins and producer Creator/KevinFeige were originally tapped to helm their own separate ''Star Wars'' films with Jenkins set to direct a ''Rogue Squadron'' movie. After a period of DevelopmentHell and silence from most involved parties, Lucasfilm announced in March 2023 that both movies were cancelled.

* Creator/JoshTrank was in line to helm a Boba Fett movie as the second installment in the ''Star Wars Anthology'' series. However, after word got out about his [[TroubledProduction incredibly erratic and unprofessional behavior]] on the set of ''Film/FantasticFour2015'', Trank was replaced by Creator/JamesMangold, and ''Film/{{Solo}}'' was moved forward to become the second ''Anthology'' film while the Boba Fett movie was pushed back. After ''Solo'' bombed at the box office, the Boba Fett movie was scrapped albeit with elements repurposed in ''Series/TheMandalorian'' and its spin-off ''Series/TheBookOfBobaFett''.

* Besides Benioff and Weiss, there were other creators tapped to work on future movies including Creator/PattyJenkins, Creator/TaikaWaititi, Creator/RianJohnson and Creator/KevinFeige. After a period of DevelopmentHell and silence from most involved parties, it was eventually announced in early March 2023 that only Waititi's project is still in active development while the others were canned.

* Besides Benioff and Weiss, there were other creators tapped to work on future movies including Creator/PattyJenkins, Creator/TaikaWaititi, Creator/RianJohnson and Creator/KevinFeige. After a period of DevelopmentHell and silence from most involved parties, it was eventually announced in early March 2023 that only Waititi's film is still in active development.