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 on the prequel trilogy, Lucas insisted that "Star Wars" was meant to be a six-part series and that there would be no sequel trilogy. Lucas decided to leave the franchise in the hands of other filmmakers, announcing in January 2012 that he would step away from making blockbuster films. In October 2012, The Walt Disney Company agreed to buy Lucasfilm and announced that "Episode VII" would be released in 2015. The co-chairman of Lucasfilm, Kathleen Kennedy, became president of the company and served as executive producer of new "Star Wars" feature films. The sequel trilogy also meant the end of