Star Wars sequel trilogy of episodes "VII", "VIII" and "IX". Dale Pollock, George Lucas's biographer, revealed in a 2012 interview, that as part of his biographical research during the 1980s, Lucas had allowed him to read the plot outlines for the at the time comprising 12 planned "Star Wars" film episodes, albeit on the condition of signing a confidentiality agreement. Those plans Pollock saw, however were drastically changed after "Empire Strikes Back" released because Lucas decided not to make the sequel trilogy, and instead finish the story as a trilogy, by ending the storyline with "". This led Lucas to rework and fully incorporate
Star Wars expanded to other media series, the 2015 film "" and its 2017 sequel "", the 2016 anthology film "Rogue One", the 2017 video game "Star Wars Battlefront II", the 2018 film "", and a number of novels and comic book series. "", Alan Dean Foster's novelization of the original 1977 film "Star Wars", was released six months before the film in November 1976. Based on George Lucas's 1976 version of the screenplay, it was ghostwritten by Foster but credited to Lucas. Lucas commissioned Foster's subsequent 1978 novel "Splinter of the Mind's Eye" as the basis for a potential low-budget sequel to "Star Wars" if