One of the numerous reasons many fans are excited for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, in theaters December 18, is that they were so disappointed in the prequel trilogy, 1999's Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones and 2005's Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, and George Lucas isn't involved this time around. Unlike the original trilogy, where George Lucas only directed Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, the filmmaker directed all three prequels, but, as it turns out, he originally didn't want to take the helm. Director Ron Howard recently appeared on MTV's Happy Sad Confused podcast, to promote his new film In the Heart of the Sea, where he revealed that George Lucas had approached him to direct the prequels, along with two other legendary filmmakers.

"He didn't necessarily want to direct them. He told me he had talked to Robert Zemeckis, Steven Spielberg, and me. I was the third one he spoke to. They all said the same thing: 'George, you should do it' I don't think anybody wanted to follow-up that act at the time. It was an honor, but it would've been too daunting."

While the prospect of Robert Zemeckis, Steven Spielberg or Ron Howard directing any of the Star Wars prequels is certainly intriguing, it isn't known if they would be working strictly from George Lucas's scripts, or if they would have co-written the films with him. George Lucas did write Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace and Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith by himself, but he enlisted the help of co-writer Jonathan Hales on Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones. We'll never know if the prequels would have been received better by fans and critics alike had Robert Zemeckis, Steven Spielberg or Ron Howard been involved, but it's certainly an intriguing thought to ponder.

George Lucas made headlines last week, when he revealed that Disney didn't want to implement any of his Star Wars ideas into Star Wars: The Force Awakens, after he sold LucasFilm to the studio for $4 billion back in 2012. It isn't know if George Lucas will ever reveal what his vision was for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and the sequels that will follow, but we know he had been planning these movies for over 30 years. Last December, a 1983 interview with Mark Hamill surfaced, where the actor said that George Lucas was planning on making a sequel trilogy in 2011.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens has already broken box office records, less than a month before it hits theaters. The highly-anticipated sequel has raked in over $50 million n advanced ticket sales, with some estimating that it could make more than $300 million during its opening weekend. We'll have to wait just 23 more days to see how fans and critics alike respond to the first Star Wars movie ever that George Lucas isn't involved in. Would you have liked to see the prequel trilogy directed by Robert Zemeckis, Steven Spielberg or Ron Howard?