Lawrence Kasdan is the unsung hero of Star Wars. Heck…he’s the unsung hero of Lucasfilm, period, having scripted not only The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, but also Raiders of the Lost Ark as well. Those three movies alone would be the crowning achievements of almost any Hollywood screenwriter’s career, and yet they were just the beginning of Kasdan’s. After his scripts for George Lucas, he’d go on to a highly successful writing/directing career of his own, with movies such as The Big Chill and The Accidental Tourist, among many others.

Lawrence Kasdan wasn’t involved with writing the Star Wars prequels, and I think the evidence speaks for itself that his touch was sorely missed. (To be fair, George Lucas apparently did ask Kasdan to come back, but he declined.) Luckily, Kathleen Kennedy and J.J. Abrams were able to get the 66-year-old Kasdan to return for The Force Awakens, mostly because he felt he’d have a greater hand in shaping the story, as the outline for the prequels was mostly set in stone before a frame was ever shot. In addition to his scripting Episode VII, Kasdan is also writing, along with his son Jon, the Star Wars standalone anthology film featuring a young Han Solo, set to be released in 2018.

But after that? Don’t expect any more Star Wars from Mr. Kasdan. According to a translation from an interview with German magazine Bild, he says ” This is my last film for this saga. […] I did not even want to do this last one anymore, but my family loved the idea. […] I did four Star Wars movies. That’s more than enough. […] I want to work as director again. […]”  It appears these next two films will be his Star Wars scripting swan song.

After four movies, it’s kind of hard to blame the man. Although he won’t be writing any more Star Wars films, Lawrence Kasdan will still be a producer on Episodes VIII and IX, so his influence will still be felt in the galaxy far, far away. But hey…doesn’t Indiana Jones 5 need a writer? Maybe Kathleen Kennedy can persuade Kasdan to help save that franchise too. Let’s all keep our fingers crossed for that one.

Who do you think should write the next Saga film? Let us know in the comments below!

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HT: Bild via The Supernaughts
IMAGE: Lucasfilm