Most of the great film franchises are composed by committee. No matter what people say about the role of the director as auteur, these are films commanding budgets that could run a small country, and the people who control the cash flow like to have their say in the finished product. Distributors like to keep their fingers on the running time to ensure they get the optimum number of screenings per screen; name actors like to have all the best lines; and the writer would prefer that none of those lines are changed at all, thank you very bloody much. Not everyone gets their say, but the less power a director wields, the more likely it is that someone somewhere will have an Important Opinion about the film that needs pandering to just to get something done. George Lucas is by far the richest filmmaker in the world, with a net worth of over $5 billion according to Forbes. He doesnt ever need to listen to anyone elses opinions, whether theyre Important or not. Theres no writer/director on the planet with this degree of authority, capable of wielding this level of budget without having to answer to anyone serious: 2012s Red Tails was financed with around $93 million of his own money after he had trouble securing backing for the project, and its doubtful he made all of that money back, or noticed the loss if he didnt. That unprecedented level of freedom is wonderful when, as Lucas did, you have a singular vision for your work. Its also worrying, should aspects of that vision fail to reach par, like the publishing phenomenon who decides that she no longer needs an editor. Whos going to say no to such a person? The terrible concepts, the derivative notions, the dodgy rationales for all manner of decisions this is the result of that lack of supervision. These are some of the worst ideas in the history of Star Wars.