Rogue One remains one of the most beloved Star Wars films to date due to its darker tone, visuals, and compelling story about the Rebellion prior to the events of A New Hope. It also earned more than a billion dollars which is impressive considering that it was not part of the Skywalker Saga.
The film's huge success led to the creation of the prequel series centering on Cassian Andor titled Andor which received critical acclaim when it premiered last year and is now also widely regarded as one of the best Star Wars shows.
Since its release, there have been reports that George Lucas had a positive reaction to the film after seeing it which is obviously a great compliment for anyone involved since it was coming from the creator of Star Wars himself.
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Director Gareth Edwards Looks Back on George Lucas' Reaction to Rogue One
In a recent interview on Josh Horowitz's Happy Sad Confused podcast (via Screen Rant), Rogue One director Gareth Edwards opened up about Lucas' response to the film.
First, he shared the story of the Star Wars creator's visit to the set and how it felt "surreal" for him.
"We showed him around the set, he came to visit Pinewood [Studios] at one point. We had a day where we showed him everything. That just felt the most surreal thing in the world, to be showing George Lucas a Star Wars film, part of it felt wrong in that sense," Edwards said.
The director went on to recall the time when he spoke with Lucas on the phone and learned what he thought of the film after he watched it.
"I was doing interviews, and there's this person hovering by the door, and I was like 'What?'. And then suddenly it sort of stopped, and they said, 'Gareth's just gotta take a break,' and I had no idea what was going on. And we go down the corridor, and they go, 'George Lucas is on the phone,'" he shared.
"And I was like 'What?!'. And I suddenly got whisked into this room, and there was this phone off the hook, and I was like, 'Hello?' And I do this every time where I'm like, 'Okay, everyone's gonna ask me what he said.'"
Edwards added, "In my brain, I'm grabbing a cassette tape, I'm putting it in and hitting record, 'Remember this, remember this!'. And I'm so in awe that it's George... he was highly complemental, he was very kind, but I played the tape back, and it was like [noises]."
Based on the way he responded, you can tell that Edwards was really happy with Lucas' reaction to this film since it is the best compliment that he could ever get as a Star Wars director.
It is also rare to hear Lucas' reactions to the Disney-era Star Wars projects and the fact that he personally called Edwards says a lot about how he felt about it and most fans also share the sentiment regarding what they think of the film.
While Lucas no longer has hands-on involvement in the franchise, it is great that he still does set visits to various projects and compliments the filmmakers if he is impressed by the work that they've done. It showed the legacy that he endured as the creator of one of the most beloved franchises.
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