George Lucas may have sold Star Wars to Disney and officially stepped away from the Episode VII pre-production process. But he's been having some trouble letting go of his 40-year-old brainchild, according to Lucas' son Jett.

"He was very torn on the matter," Jett Lucas told YouTube channel Flicks and the City in an interview posted Sunday, revealing that his dad had started researching and writing the new Star Wars movies about a year before the Disney sale — and told him casually over a dinnertime phone call. "He's happiest when he's writing and doing something with his time." What the senior Lucas has done is set out "guidelines" for the new movie, Jett said.

Jett, 20, compared the situation to a child leaving home for the first time. Asked if Lucas was keeping a watchful eye over what happens next with Star Wars, he replied: "yeah, as any parent watching their kid going to college would. He's constantly talking to J.J. [Abrams, director of Episode VII]. Obviously J.J. was handpicked. He [Lucas] is there to guide, whenever, he'll help where he can. At the same time, he wants to let it go and become its new generation."

About that new generation: Jett admitted he'd seen the story for Episode VII. "I already know what happens," he said, adding cryptically: "I'm happy with what's going to happen."

He followed that with a lot of discussion about a "new generation" in the movie, and a hypothetical situation where Han Solo is teaching his son to drive the Millennium Falcon.

Here below is the full 13-minute interview, for Star Wars fans who want to read the tea leaves. What do you expect to see in the next movie, and are you happy that George Lucas is staying intimately involved with it? Let us know in the comments.

Image: Flickr, Joi