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 sequel trilogy decided to end the saga as six films. This prevented him from developing a sequel trilogy during that time-frame. In an interview published in the February 1999 issue of "Vanity Fair", Lucas said: "When you see it in six parts, you'll understand. It really ends at part six. I never had a story for the sequels, for the later ones." In early May 2002, just before the worldwide release of "" and while Lucas was working on the script for "Episode III", rumors of "Star Wars" episodes VII, VIII, and IX were posted on the Internet. In reply, Lucas noted