Star Wars: 10 Things Everyone Gets Wrong About The Prequels

Although filmmaking is a collaborative process, it’s not a committee thinking free-for-all where everyone has equal input. Katie the modelmaker and Derek the second grip don’t get a say on story or how a scene is directed. Which is why the idea that George Lucas’s crew were a bunch of yes men is a strange one. It’s not an unhealthy work environment with an intimidating director, it’s people doing their jobs.

But looking deeper into the making of the Prequels, it’s clear how much collaboration actually took place. Which should be obvious when you think about it. No massive space opera costing upwards of $100 million gets made without it.

Jonathan Hales and Tom Stoppard were brought on to script doctor Episodes 2 & 3, Steven Spielberg directed some of Episode 3's animatics, and the art department were basically given free reign in the early stages. There was plenty of collaboration, but with people who Lucas either trusted, or had hired for it.

But biggest argument of all against this idea is that, if George Lucas had his way, he wouldn’t have directed the Prequels at all. The Phantom Menace was originally offered to Steven Spielberg, Robert Zemeckis, and new Han Solo director Ron Howard, who all turned it down and said that Lucas should do it. In a parallel world somewhere, Steven Spielberg’s The Phantom Menace is being hailed as one of the best prequels of all time. Or not, considering the sheer weight of expectation.