BM: Agreed. On all of it. Just. Agreed.

Anyways, I don't think that's his reason for not doing 7-9. Most of the books don't present any real tough flaws in the story and he could easily build from them. Especially since he's okayed them.

You guys may or may not already know this, but before I got into anime, I was a Star Wars geek. Now, let me go right down the pike an point out what's wrong with all of you.

George Lucas intended to make A New Hope and just let it finish itself there. He had no inteton for Chapter 5, 6, 1, 2, or 3. And I really doubt he had the foresight to see that computers would be capable of doing all the stuff they can do in thrity years(ANH: 1976). If you look at the Star Wars book trilogy(which I just so happen to have placed convieniently in my closet with all my other old Star Wars stuff), George Lucas wrote Star Wars with no subtitle. The Empire Strikes Back was written by Donald F. Glut. And Return of the Jedi was written by James Kahn. This was the start of what would later be called the "EU." Lucas took those books and made them into screenplays. Proof? In ROTJ, the author doesn't discribe the Gammoreans; just "the Gammoreans" this and that. It wasn't described that they were pig-faced monsters that Duke Nukem would later be blasting. And how would anyone whose knowledge comes just from the movies know their names, or any of the bounty hunters save Boba Fett? Those names were never mentioned in the movies. When ANH first came out, it was always called "Star Wars." ANH wouldn't become its official name until after long after even the VHS was released(the people who conceived me have the original VHS tapes), when the SE was released, in fact.

About what Episodes 1-3 would have looked like without the new effects. For those of you who have the VHS of the SE already, watch the opening interview with Lucas on ANH. He explains that Jabba the Hutt was originally going to be a fur-covered monster, but then they decided not to have Jabba in ANH. Hence how they made of a young Harrison Ford interacting with a CGI Jabba the Hutt: that footage was shot earlier and then discarded from the final product, then brought back and edited with new technology. What would Jar Jar Binks look like? Like Jabba the Hutt does in ROTJ. Or like Yoda does. He would be a puppet. If I'm bursting anyone's bubble here, too bad: George Lucas is not some kind of mastermind that you would think him to be and really doesn't have the foresight to see beyond the dark depths of his ass(mind you these words are coming from a former Star Wars obsessionite).

For movies 7-9, George Lucas never really had plans for those(then again, he never had plans for anything beyond ANH). But what's to keep other people from making the movies? Other people have written books, afterall. And games. And all sorts of things. And if George Lucas would read the books written about the Star Wars universe, he would realise he screwed up a large portion of the EU aready with just his two movies, but no, he just gets a cut of profits just because it reads "Star Wars" in the title. C-3PO was activated 4k years before R2-D2 was activated, according to the original EU timeline. But, thanks to Lucas, C-3PO was built by some little kid with mental problems(sees ghosts) that would grow to be some dickhead teenager that can't do anything right(can't act). Boba Fett started his life under a different name, on an actual world, until he scarred himself to the point of being unrecognizable, feared as a monster, and donned the armor so no one would see his wounds. Thanks to Lucas, Boba Fett is actually the clone-son of some pansy that was killed by a Jedi shortly after making his appearance. So, it's not like Lucas personally authorizes all the EU books, so what does it matter if people make other movies, too?

[Edit]Yeah, I got real into what I was doing, so some other people wrote kinda the same stuff I already wrote while I wasn't looking. Also, since I didn't get a chance to see the posts from earlier, I'll make some remarks on those ones now.
According to the original EU, he and Obi-Wan dueled over a volcano, like Gandalf and that dragon dueled over the chasm. I don't remember why they were dueling there(they were on a mission and Anakin got irritated, or Anakin was at the volcano waiting for Obi-Wan, or whatever but I don't remember), and then Anakin took a spill in to the lava. His body was of course badly burned, but he managed to keep himself alive with the Force. Palpantine found him(don't know how, or even how he got Anakin out of the lava) with his body greatly damaged. That's why Darth Vader wears the suit, because his body is damaged, and exposure to the elements are harmful to him. This is why the only time he's seen without his helmet on is when he's in his meditation chamber, because it's sealed off from all the outside elements. But, again, that's all original EU; I'm sure Lucas will screw that up, too.

You quoted me and you didn't even read it!? What the hell!? I already told you why Anakin is on the casting list! Don't quote people and then ask them a question they already answered in what you quoted!

But, I'm going to go a step further. Look at those credits.

Hayden Christensen .... Anakin Skywalker/Lord Darth Vader
Natalie Portman .... Senator Amidala/Padmé Naberrie-Skywalker
Ian McDiarmid .... Supreme Chancellor/Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious
Samuel L. Jackson .... Mace Windu
Christopher Lee .... Count Dooku/Darth Tyranus

-Gasp-Save for Samuel L. Jackson, everyone I just listed has more than one character name! Are you telling me that Count Dooku is pre-Dark Side Darth Tyranus!? Or that Supreme Chancellor Palpatine is pre-Dark Side Darth Sidious!? Or that Padmé Naberrie-Skywalker is Senator Amidala after she turns to the Dark Side!? Another word of advice: Read everything you link before posting to it. Because if you don't, someone else will, and the results won't be pretty. It happens a lot on the Discussion board.[/Edit]

Otaku, you think you could direct me to some of the books I could read? What are the titles of some of these?

For most of my Original EU knowledge, I got it from a book called Star Wars: The Complete Universe Index: Second Edition published in 1994/5 by Bantam Books. Tales of the Bounty Hunters has some information(like, a chapter or two) on the early life of Boba Fett. Then everything else is just fill-in-the-blanks and information that cliques learn.

Or if you mean just EU books as a complete whole, rather than just where I got my reference material, then I strongly suggest the Thrawn Trilogy and the other two books Timothy Zahn wrote. I also enjoyed Shadows of the Empire, which is unlike the game in a lot of aspects. The Bounty Hunter Wars Trilogy is one I suggest, and all the other stories inside Tales of the Bounty Hunters(IG-88, Zuckuss&4-LOM, Dengar, and Bossk, along with already-mentioned Boba Fett). Beyond those books, and the original trilogy books, my knowledge is minimal. I started reading I, Jedi but at that point anime was starting to work its way in to my life, so I never got very far.

Heh, once again, Otaku gets the award for most informational.

Ok, well it seems like my edit completely ignored your post, which i didn't do, but it seems you ignored the first part of my post, where i said that he had gone completely to the dark side and hadn't become Darth Vader yet, and you seemed to have ignored Hamelin's post backing me up. So i will say this again, i think that the movie will start with Anakin still a Jedi, not having changed completely to the dark side, and there will be a build up to the fight between Anakin and Obi-Wan. Also from what you and others say about Lucas not following other things that have been writen about the Star Wars universe, i wouldn't expect him to follow anything from the clone wars mini-series.

What could he follow from Clone Wars? Nobody fundamentally changed, it was just a bunch of pretty cool battles/fights. And Anakin has always been pissy in the movies.

I dont know. From what i got from one of Otaku's posts was that Anakin had joined the dark side and had become Darth Vader.

Ow ow ow ow ow.

You really need to round out your geek knowledge man. It's called a Balrog. I prescribe less anime and more Lord of the Rings.

BTW, I was a Star Wars geek too and I add my credibility to everything otaku said.

No, I read your whole post(and Hamelin's). I just picked apart the points that made no sense and wanted to point out that I already stated my hypothesis and what it was. Just Jon will tell you I'm a grouch like that. You and Hamelin may be correct, or I may be. Only Lucas, his crew, and anyone who might happen to have a finished bootleg copy this early in the game know for certain what will happen.