In an interview with USA Today for his upcoming film Strange Magic, George Lucas shares that he originally planned on directing Star Wars: Episode VII before selling the company:
Lucas already started to develop the next three Star Wars films, but he knew a third trilogy was a 10-year commitment at least. He at first expected to finish Episode VII, release it in May 2015 and then sell the company afterward.
But Disney expressed interest and came along at the right moment, Lucas says. “It’s better for me to get out at the beginning of a new thing and I can just remove myself.
As part of the story, USA Today also featured an exclusive clip of the upcoming film.