AceShowbiz -

As fans are counting days to see "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" in theaters on December 18, George Lucas discussed his decision to step away from the franchise. The filmmaker previously told Vanity Fair, "You go to make a movie and all you do is get criticized. ... It's not much fun." In an interview on "CBS This Morning", he then compared his departure to a break-up.

Before the Disney takeover, Lucas initially wrote new stories for future installments but they were rejected. "The issue was, ultimately, they looked at the stories and they said, 'We want to make something for the fans,' " he recalled. "So, I said, all I want to do is tell a story of what happened - it started here and went there. It's all about generations, and the issues of fathers and sons and grandfathers. It's a family soap opera."

"They decided they didn't want to use those stories, they decided they were gonna go do their own thing. So, I decided, 'Fine,' " Lucas continued. "They weren't that keen to have me involved anyway. But at the same time, I said, 'if I get in there I'm just going to cause trouble.' Because they're not going to do what I want them to do. ... So I said, 'Okay, I will go my way, and I'll let them go their way.' "

He added, "It really does come down to a simple rule of life, which is, when you break up with somebody, the first rule is no phone calls. The second rule, you don't go over to their house and drive by to see what they're doing. The third one is you don't show up at their coffee shop and say, 'You are going to burn it.' You just say, 'Nope, gone, history, I'm moving forward.' "