What if the prequel and sequel trilogies had been released sooner?

[ChrisIII]

Lucas did intend to make the prequel trilogy while producing the OT but a combination of his messy divorce and feeling the special effects tech wasn't quite there yet delayed him starting it; however he was impressed by "Jurassic Park" and restarted the prequel film trilogy almost immediately after, in 1994, originally for a 1997 release but Lucas decided for the special editions that year instead (although production did start that year).


The idea of a sequel trilogy (or even a fourth trilogy with parts 10-12) seems to have been largely abandoned when Gary Kurtz left, and Lucas seemed to have little interest in making it until fairly close to the Disney sale where it seemed he did some preliminary work and discussions with Mark/Carrie at least, but ultimately decided to retire and 'pass the torch' to Kennedy and new creators (Although this also included some of his colleagues like Knoll, Filoni and Howard).


However, what if these didn't happen and say we got, episodes one I-III in 1986-1992, followed by a sequel trilogy in 95-2001 or thereabouts (or the other way around?) what would the cast be like? Would the story have been different without the CG effects etc?

[thwhtGuardian]

Lucas did intend to make the prequel trilogy while producing the OT but a combination of his messy divorce and feeling the special effects tech wasn't quite there yet delayed him starting it; however he was impressed by "Jurassic Park" and restarted the prequel film trilogy almost immediately after, in 1994, originally for a 1997 release but Lucas decided for the special editions that year instead (although production did start that year).


The idea of a sequel trilogy (or even a fourth trilogy with parts 10-12) seems to have been largely abandoned when Gary Kurtz left, and Lucas seemed to have little interest in making it until fairly close to the Disney sale where it seemed he did some preliminary work and discussions with Mark/Carrie at least, but ultimately decided to retire and 'pass the torch' to Kennedy and new creators (Although this also included some of his colleagues like Knoll, Filoni and Howard).


However, what if these didn't happen and say we got, episodes one I-III in 1986-1992, followed by a sequel trilogy in 95-2001 or thereabouts (or the other way around?) what would the cast be like? Would the story have been different without the CG effects etc?

His original story for the sequels was waay different than what we ended up with. Before Return of the Jedi came out the sequel trilogy was going to be about Luke finding his sister(not Princess Leia) and then fighting the Emperor together.

Then he tossed around an idea of a single sequel with old man Luke and Han and old lady Leia trying to find their way in the new galaxy.

And later on still(right before selling to Disney) he apparently came up with this weird story about a microbiotic world which seems really out there.

It is interesting to imagine, "What if..." though.

[Jokerz79]

His original story for the sequels was waay different than what we ended up with. Before Return of the Jedi came out the sequel trilogy was going to be about Luke finding his sister(not Princess Leia) and then fighting the Emperor together.

Then he tossed around an idea of a single sequel with old man Luke and Han and old lady Leia trying to find their way in the new galaxy.

And later on still(right before selling to Disney) he apparently came up with this weird story about a microbiotic world which seems really out there.

It is interesting to imagine, "What if..." though.

Yeah, he also wanted to use Maul and Talon from Legacy as the Sith Lords in the Sequel Treatments he wrote right before the Disney buyout.

As for the Prequels I don't buy the story he wanted to them when doing the Original Trilogy. I don't think he even had any real ideas for them back them but much like Vader being Luke's father and Leia his sister he's convinced himself this was always planned out to be that story when it's B.S.

[thwhtGuardian]

Yeah, he also wanted to use Maul and Talon from Legacy as the Sith Lords in the Sequel Treatments he wrote right before the Disney buyout.

As for the Prequels I don't buy the story he wanted to them when doing the Original Trilogy. I don't think he even had any real ideas for them back them but much like Vader being Luke's father and Leia his sister he's convinced himself this was always planned out to be that story when it's B.S.

Yeah, it's definitely something that grew over time and not some epic that came out of his head perfect and fully formed like Athena emerging from Zeus's head. I've never understood by he tried to say otherwise or why some fans refuse to believe the truth that he made it up on the fly.

[ChrisIII]

Think the basic outline was that Episode One might've been what James Mangold's movie is going to do, with a self-contained origin of the Jedi/Sith and the Republic, while the second and third would deal with the Anakin/Obi-Wan drama.

Instead Lucas kind of stretched that into a trilogy, and put Qui-Gon in for the first part of the story instead of Obi-Wan who was made younger and given a smaller role at first.

[thwhtGuardian]

Think the basic outline was that Episode One might've been what James Mangold's movie is going to do, with a self-contained origin of the Jedi/Sith and the Republic, while the second and third would deal with the Anakin/Obi-Wan drama.

Instead Lucas kind of stretched that into a trilogy, and put Qui-Gon in for the first part of the story instead of Obi-Wan who was made younger and given a smaller role at first.

Maybe slightly, Episode I was originally about showcasing the Jedi order in all its glory, Episode II was going to introduce and develop Obi-Wan and then in Episode III we would have seen the rise and fall of Anakin Skywalker.

[ChrisIII]

Kind of wonder if they would've bothered with giving Obi-Wan a Qui-Gon like mentor and just have used Yoda like the OT implied (One of the initial problems people had with TPM, but sort of semi-fixed by AOTC).

[FFJamie94]

The prequels probably wouldn't have been that bad. Less yes men and more People who look at his work with a critical eye.

Saying that, it probably would have had a similar story and even structure, but the details probably would have been different.
I kinda wish he made the prequels in the 90's as I think it would have swayed him from relying too much on CGI.

[BeastieRunner]

If it meant we would've had Luke go to the Dark Side and an actual Clone Wars, I would be all for it!