Star Wars sequel trilogy in late 1980, Lucas described how the expansive scope of "Star Wars" had started with an overlong screenplay: He added that he had: In this interview, Lucas also stated that he had "titles and ten-page story outlines for each of" the nine episodes. In an interview with Gary Kurtz in the same magazine, Kurtz said: In an interview with "Starlog" magazine published in September 1981, Lucas confirmed that he had the nine-film series plotted, cautioning: Shortly after 1980's release of "Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back", Lucas had already written story treatments for episodes: "VI", and the sequel trilogy consisting
Star Wars sequel trilogy discovery for the audience". Much of the old expanded universe content would continue to be available under the "Star Wars: Legends" brand, which was created to brand the non-canonical works of the franchise. Only "Episodes I-VI" would remain canon to the franchise, along "The Clone Wars" animated film and series. Everything produced after the announcement, would also be considered remain canon. The first film in the sequel trilogy was titled "Episode VII: The Force Awakens" and written by Lucas co-writer on two sequels in the original trilogy Lawrence Kasdan, along J.J. Abrams, who also directed it. As noted by Lucas