I’m a Star Wars fan, but I’m also George Lucas fan. I love THX-1138, I’ve got Red Tails and Howard The Duck on Blu-Ray, and I love me some Willow. I had the opportunity to see Charlie Rose speak with George Lucas in 2014 at Chicago’s Ideas Week at The Cadillac Palace Theatre in Chicago. The price of admission was over $100, but to me being in the same room as the CREATOR OF STAR WARS was an experience that was well worth the price tag.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker had it’s red carpet opening in Hollywood on Monday night, and everyone was there… And when I say everyone I mean EVERYONE. Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Kelly Marie Tran, Mark Hamill, Adam Driver, Keri Russell, Oscar Issac, Naomi Ackie, Joonas Suotamo, Chewbacca, Director J.J. Abrams, Kathleen Kennedy, Anthony Daniels, Richard E. Grant, Billy Dee Williams, Harrison Ford, Ian McDiarmid, R2-D2 and C-3PO, BB-8 and D-O, Jon Favreau, Steven Spielberg, Pedro Pascal, Ahmed Best, Spike Lee, Zooey Deschanel, Danny DeVito, Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith, Youtuber John Campea…. The list goes on and on.

The ONLY TWO PEOPLE who aren’t on the list that should have been there are Carrie Fisher and George Lucas, and Carrie Fisher is deceased. As far as I can tell, George Lucas has been at the opening of all the other Star Wars films released since Disney bought Lucasfilm in 2012. He was also appeared alongside Bob Iger at the opening of Disney’s Galaxy’s Edge park in Hollywood, he’s been spotted hanging with Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau on the set of the Disney+ show The Mandalorian….

Watchers of the Disney acquisition of Lucasfilm have seen turmoil between Lucas and Disney on multiple occasions, so I’m curious to find out why Lucas skipped the premiere. For months there have been rumors of Rise Of Skywalker re-shoots that involved Lucas, and there have been rumors that some of the stuff Lucas worked on didn’t make it into the final cut of the film. Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker opens this weekend. The film is currently sitting at 59% on Rotten Tomatoes, but it’s too early to call what the final tally will be. Either way the movie is going to make bank, with expected ticket sales north of $450 million dollars globally. – Producer Dan