Despite selling the franchise in 2012 and walking away from it creatively, George Lucas will still attend the premiere for "Star Wars: The Force Awakens."

Apart from attending the London and Los Angeles premieres for the film, Lucasfilm pres Kathleen Kennedy says Lucas has already seen "The Force Awakens," and told The Hollywood Reporter, "He really liked it."

The news comes as a bit of a surprise, considering Lucas' earlier interview with CBS, where he revealed that he unsuccessfully pitched ideas for the new films: "...ultimately, they looked at the stories and they said, 'We want to make something for the fans...People don't actually realize it's actually a soap opera and it's all about family problems — it's not about spaceships. So they decided they didn't want to use those stories, they decided they were going to do their own thing so I decided, 'fine. ... I'll go my way and I let them go their way."

Kennedy went on to tell THR that the process making the new films has been difficult for Lucas, as he's found it a hard time "...watching this go on without his direct involvement. At the same time, he really wanted to step away."

She continued, "If there's one thing I've learned about George is it's that he's never, ever held back. Having him 100 percent on board is up to him and he can't do that unless he's running everything."

Lucas told the Washington Post earlier this year that he would end up watching "The Force Awakens," but likened it to an interesting metaphor: "I gotta go to the wedding. My ex will be there, my new wife will be there, but I’m going to have to take a very deep breath and be a good person and sit through it and just enjoy the moment, because it is what it is and it’s a conscious decision that I made."

Having now seen "The Force Awakens," Lucas joins Harrison Ford, Steven Spielberg and some high-level Disney executives as the only group of people to see the film.

"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" hits screens December 18.