BREAKING…. Disney has just confirmed that it has agreed to acquire George Lucas‘ Lucasfilm Ltd, and that includes rights to the Star Wars franchise that will now continue on. The companies have targeted a 2015 release for Star Wars: Episode 7, with Episode 8 and Episode 9 to follow as the the long-term plan is to release a new feature every two or three years. “The last Star Wars movie release was 2005’s Revenge Of The Sith – and we believe there’s substantial pent-up demand”, Disney said. The deal also includes rights to the Indiana Jones franchise.
The stock and cash transaction is worth an estimated $4.05 billion, and the companies have scheduled a conference call in a half-hour to discuss the deal, which was approved by the Disney board and Lucas, the sole Lucasfilm shareholder. (UPDATE: Disney’s Iger: Three New ‘Star Wars’ Movies Mapped Out; TV Plans Too)
As for the new Star Wars installments, the companies said Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy would be executive producer on Episode 7 and any additional Star Wars movies, and Lucas would serve as creative consultant. There was no indication about where the story would pick up, though technically in the franchise’s chronology it would follow Star Wars: Episode 6 — Return Of The Jedi, the third film in the initial trilogy that came out in 1983.
Related: George Lucas On ‘Star Wars’ And Disney: Video
As part of the deal, Kennedy will become president of Lucasfilm, reporting to Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn. Kennedy, who was made Lucasfilm co-chairman June 1 as heir apparent to Lucas, will also serve as the brand manager for Star Wars, whose feature films have earned a total of $4.4 billion in global box to date. That doesn’t take into account the franchise’s massive merchandising clout that Disney CFO Jay Rasulo said will generate in 2012 close to the $215 million in consumer product revenue Marvel had when Disney bought that comics business in 2009.
Disney has built its business under chairman and CEO Bob Iger around such major acquisitions as Marvel, Pixar, ABC and ESPN.
“Lucasfilm reflects the extraordinary passion, vision, and storytelling of its founder, George Lucas,” Iger said in a release announcing the deal. “This transaction combines a world-class portfolio of content including Star Wars, one of the greatest family entertainment franchises of all time, with Disney’s unique and unparalleled creativity across multiple platforms, businesses, and markets to generate sustained growth and drive significant long-term value.”
Disney is paying approximately half of the consideration in cash and issuing approximately 40 million shares at closing based on Disney’s stock price on October 26. Lucasfilm is 100% owned by Lucasfilm chairman and founder Lucas.
“For the past 35 years, one of my greatest pleasures has been to see Star Wars passed from one generation to the next,” said Lucas. “It’s now time for me to pass Star Wars on to a new generation of filmmakers. I’ve always believed that Star Wars could live beyond me, and I thought it was important to set up the transition during my lifetime. I’m confident that with Lucasfilm under the leadership of Kathleen Kennedy, and having a new home within the Disney organization, Star Wars will certainly live on and flourish for many generations to come. Disney’s reach and experience give Lucasfilm the opportunity to blaze new trails in film, television, interactive media, theme parks, live entertainment, and consumer products.”
Lucasfilm’s businesses include live-action film production, consumer products, animation, visual effects, and audio postproduction. Disney also acquires the technologies from the San Francisco-based company, which operates under the names Lucasfilm Ltd., LucasArts, Industrial Light + Magic, and Skywalker Sound.
Goes without saying there’s going to be a Star Wars episode 7 now.
Who is going to direct Episode 7??
Great question. To be honest, 4 billion seems like a bargain. If they make at least 3 more Star Wars films, the global gross with merchandise sales, dvd/digital download sales, etc, will earn them back that money. That doesn’t even include additional films, TV series, theme parks, Indiana Jones, Skywalker Sound, etc…
I wonder why George sold it for less than they paid for Pixar.
These are all questions I hope they ask on this conference call today…
John Lasseter to direct Episode 7.
Or Brad Bird? Or Joss Whedon? Oh, the possiblities…
Brad Bird.
Kevin Smith would be the best choice to direct.
Brad Bird would knock it out of the park. His ability to develop memorable characters and handle great action are perfect for the task.
Kevin Sith is more like it. Epic fail for a Star Wars director. I can imagine it now… Luke as an old and fat washed up Jedi Master. Forced to pay for two seats on a New Galactic Republic flight to Coruscant. Silent Bob dealing Special Green deathsticks…
No way Kevin Smith will even be considered to direct the new Star Wars movie. He got scared of the complexity of a superhero action movie and bailed on The Green Hornet. If that overwhelmed him, then Star Wars would be a galaxy away from his capabilities.
If only Coppola from the early ’70s could appear…
George wants them to make a lot of money to keep the story going. He only needs so much. He figured he now has is enough to accomplish his goals.
That’s all we need: the further adventures of Jar Jar Binks and the Ewoks. Lucas himself had so screwed up his own Star Wars legacy (just as Spielberg blew Indiana Jones in the last movie) that Disney taking over both franchises cannot do much more harm.
Hey, who knows? Maybe Disney will knock it out of the park. But their track record with sci-fi (“Escape from Witch Mountain,” Tron,” “The Black Hole,” “John Carter”) does not bode well for any pleasant surprises.
I vote for Christopher Nolan
Chris Nolan would be a no brainer….Batman, Star Trek….wow…to put his name on the Star Wars nameplate???? That would be AWESOME!!!
Chris Nolan. Oh man, that would really be greatness. JJ Abrams could do this justice too I feel because he has such a special place in his heart for these types of films that inspired him when he was a boy. I wouldn’t be dissappointed to see Peter Jackson be involved either.
if Nolan’s gonna do it ill be suprised cause hes gonna have to stop working on the Superman films and possible Robin movie in ten years
Anyone But Lucas. And let’s hope they use an actual film camera, and not some Sony Pixelvision camera again.
kevin smith would be the worst choice since he can’t direct his way out of a paper bag (even if he could fit in one).
Brad Bird will do it. And he’s by far the best choice.
Kevin Smith is now more interested in being just an emcee anyway. Happy?
Without doubt, Mr. Lucas decided to sell his company before tax rates are scheduled to go up which would leave him with far less net profit.
Because after the horrible quality of parts 1-3, Lucas knew he had killed the Star Wars franchise and wanted to sell it before the body cooled.
You do realize that the last film was released seven years ago? I am pretty sure a body could cool in that time. I don’t think anyone would suggest that the prequels were artistically worthy of the other films, but they made huge bank … despite their mediocrity. The fact that films that bad could still make that much suggests that the franchise is still viable.
There are always secret arrangements in these deals. I am willing to bet Lucas is signed on as a “consultant” for life at 25-50 million per film. Stock-traded companies are nothing but a masquerade for insiders to defraud the public in creative ways.
I really like George Lucas, but he is a bad dealer
What is more important to me: I Don’t trust Disney.
Michael Bay!
Hell no.
Kaboom
Bay? Are you serious after what he did to the Transformers franchise, that would be like kicking Star Wars when it’s already on the ground.
That doesn’t matter to studios; they do care, however, about the films turning a profit, which is why Bay has made three Transformers movies. Like Bay or not, you have to admit he knows what the movie-going public wants to see, and he knows how to deliver the goods.
Not Michael Bay. MB doesn’t handle story well(transformers is an abomination of story) I would much rather have a JJ Abrams, Josh Weaton or even John Fabarou, these guys would handle it with kit gloves.
Wheadon, Favreau, kid gloves, like goatskin . . . what on earth are kit glovers?
Right, Abrams. Because ruining Star Trek wasn’t good enough.
@p3orion. Abrams took a franchise that was pretty much dead and made it relevant. I am sure lots of studios would love for Abrams to ‘ruin’ their long-forgotten franchises for years to come.
EW.
Worst director ever? Michael Bay
Bay needs to collaborate on this with Uwe Boll…. now that would be a Star Wars worth seeing
LOL! I laughed so hard at this comment! People in my office were looking at me.
STAR WARS EPISODE VII: EXPLOSIONS IN SPAAAAAAAAACE
verbinski? triangulate ILM, Disney and big-budgets and that’s where you end up…
J.J. Abrams…please God…please…
Please no. Not him. He’ll try and change the story of Star Wars so Han and Chewy will cross paths with Kirk and Spock. Plus he’ll throw in an unreasonable amount of lens flare. Just sayin.
Got to love the lens flare.
Not to mention he will continually hit you over the head with foreshadowing loosing all the joy the climax should bring.
Ditto Ditto!
I hope so! I love JJ
Oh how I wish Kubrick was still alive, David Lynch perhaps?
At first I was thinking Richard Attenborough. Then I realized it wouldn’t be his thing. How about Spielberg?
Kubrick wouldn’t have touched it.
Lynch was offered Jedi, but turned it down for Dune.
Give it to Abrams or Nolan.
Spielberg all the way!!!!
Andy & Lana Wachowski – CLOUD ATLAS was awesome. They would so do the world of STAR WARS justice!!!
Except then it will be rated R, and the sequels will be horrible.
Lana lol.
Yes, I believe Lana is her name. No LOL required.
Angela, you and “Lana” can take your politically correct shyte and cram it. Original Matrix was great. Reloaded and Revolutions were both pretentious pseudointellectual crap. Keep them AWAY from Star Wars.
seriously. big LOL.
Wow, such hate. Get over yourself.
Tyler Perry to direct.
A black Darth Vader? Oh– Wait a minute.
Tyler Perry presents Star Wars: Lando Runs For Republic Senate
After Lando loses his job as spokesman for Mint Flavored Colt .45, he runs for the Galactic Senate on a quest to ensure that the galaxy never suffers from a disgusting tasting mint flavored beer ever again.
Well that or they could turn the Star Wars Hand of Thrawn books in to the next 3 movies.
Werner Herzog! Now for something completely different.
Yes. Also, it must be narrated by Herzog, star Michael Shannon as Luke, be completely improvised on location (the Peruvian rainforest) and feature Udo Kier and Brad Dourif as lovers/Jedi.
Anyone but George Lucas.
How about Quentin Tarantino for director on episode 7?
LOL
Samuel L. Jackson returns from the Force. “Get these motherf***ing ewoks off my motherf***ing starship!”
GOD NO TO QUENTIN TARANTINO. It would be shot out of order and end up making no sense.
Star Wars is already shot out of order and the inclusion of Jar Jar Binks already makes no sense.
“Use the force Luke, use the motherf*****g force!”
Christopher Nolan would be nice. A batman type trilogy would be stellar.
Christopher Nolan
I bet James Cameron is involved in ep vii. He’s in cohoots with Disney with avatar land and what other director could take those reigns?
What are you talking about? What – if anything – does Disney have to do with Avatar?
Disney is building an Avatar section in Animal Kingdom which Cameron is supervising. Him directing a Star Wars movie would make sense.
They say the best film written was the Empire, mostly because his ex-wife is rumored to have written most of it. All they have to do is tweak it every six years and like a Pinata with million dollar bills this would pay off. I would have been more impressed if Disney bought a major internet retailer or something. But a cash Pinata like Star Wars is impressive, especially if they got the rights to the toys too.
Yeah, it must have been Marcia Lucas – a film editor – who wrote “most of it.” It couldn’t have been lightweights like The Big Sleep’s Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan, who were kept on the payroll for no reason.
Coen Brothers just to make it fantastically unique
CAMERON!!
They should let Jim Cameron take over the franchise. And drop the Skywalker family — pick up new characters and create a fresh story line.
actually it was said right there in the article
No it didn’t, it said who the executive producer is going to be
Disney destroys films. They turn them into family-friendly flix that feature corny humor, and cheap action. Hence the lion witch and wardrobe series that featured fuzzy cute creatures scurrying around a fairy tale forest.
Star Wars has been around since 1977 and there are still people who don’t get that Lucas makes family friendly entertainment?
Like Ep. 3?
I dont know if it could be destroyed much more. The last several movies were pretty awful. Gems like Jar Jar Binx and flying monkeys in the last Indiana Jones movie were added without Disney’s influence. Hopefully someone who has some damned sense will be in charge and stop stupid crap like that from making it to the screen.
This is bad news all-around…
Just guaranteed that Star Wars continues to go on for far too long into the future. Heavens to Mergatroid! The problem with Hollywood ISN’T franchises so much as nobody has the guts to do something new without resurrecting TEN of these zombie franchises for every allegedly new property!
Star Wars has become the new Gunsmoke. It won’t end until there’s no audience left to care for it, or it’ll become self-perpetuating like Bond. Fortunately, Gunsmoke didn’t have as long as negative an impact on the entertainment industry as Star Wars has. You can pretty much blame the emphasis on box office, merchandizing and marketing of films and drive to top grosses on the Star Wars series.
I used to love Star Wars. I was one of the original fans that saw the first trilogy IN theaters IN THEIR ORIGINAL THEATRICAL EDITS!!!!! Now, I can honestly say I’ve GROWN TO HATE STAR WARS and what it really stands for in modern film.
I hate the sad mess of an advertisement for kids’ happy meals that the series has become. The mythology has been stripped from the bone and what we have left is a bunch of laserblasting and humming lightsabers; as boring and pointless as 95% of the action films have always been…
Calm Down you overly zealous Star Wars purist! wanted to say pr!ck but I completely understand where your coming from…however way you look at it, Star Wars has always been about making MONEY! it generated economy and people bought into it…don’t hate the people who produced it, hate the idiot masses who buy into it…and that goes for virtually 99.9% of the shyte that comes out of hollywood these days…
“They turn them into family-friendly flix that feature corny humor, and cheap action.”
So, “Star Wars” & “Indiana Jones” will go completely unchanged then.
You mean as opposed to the books they are based on????
then you clearly never read any of the Narnia books. Otherwise you’d realize that WAS the story :roll:
amen to that
Um……The Narnia books are rife with fuzzy cute creatures…..then they stick you in the liver with 5 inches of steel……..Kind of takes the cute out of the equation.
> “Hence the lion witch and wardrobe series that featured fuzzy cute creatures scurrying around a fairy tale forest.”
You mean like Ewoks?
Wasn’t that the way it was in the books? It’s freaking Narnia!!
And it will suck.
Shoot a movie on Pyramid Gravity Force to save the world…….Paaaaaaaalease…!
Please. Please. Please. No silly choreographed lightsaber fights by effiminate non-athletic actors. (ruined last three films!) Thanks…
Signed, every moviegoer in United States
There was always going to be an Episode 7. Way back in the 1970’s Lucas talked about doing three trilogies. One set before the original series and then what will now be Episodes 7-9. Get Guillermo del Toro or Peter Jackson. Those two wouldn’t be afraid of leaving the Ewoks out of it.
I would really hope they would do KOTOR: The Sith Lords. Love to see what happens to Revan. A trip to Malacor V would be cool.
False. There was not always going to be an Episode 7. In 2005 as keynote speaker to the SIGGRAPH conference, Lucas said that 6 was it, and the story “The Tragedy of Anakin Skywalker” was complete.
Thanks for bringing that up. Many people forget that Lucas planned 9 films altogether. Never understood why he dropped 7-9 because he would need Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, and Carrie Fisher before they got too old.
I don’t know much about the unauthorized fiction but there seems to be so much of it going in different directions (I remember as a kid buying “Splinter in the Mind’s Eye” by Alan Dean Foster—it came out immediately after the first “Star Wars”).
Hopefully Lucas and Kathleen Kennedy may have some outlines that would guide the eventual screenwriters. The movies would seem disjointed if they didn’t follow the creator’s ideas.
It’s too bad Lucas had to squander his career making this endless series of rubbish. Had he developed his talent like other Directors creating new films instead, he would have become a great film-maker. All he’s going to leave now is his childish Star Wars episodes 1-99. How much more money does he have to make off this retread. Even American Graffit 2 (his other movie) would be better than another loud, crappy “space movie”.
I am reasonably certain that any given Hollywood director would trade places with George Lucas in an instant. They would all love to have created and wholly owned a $4 billion franchise. Now, go back to yelling at the neighborhood kids to get off your lawn.
It wouldn’t be the same without Lucas directing and producing it. Edan Aharony.
will be better. he’s a good producer and technical innovator, but only he could take solid actors and squeeze wooden performances out of them.
4 the record : george lucas DID NOT DIRECT empire strikes back…the BEST of the ot.
It will be better :)
Is it going to be subtitled “Rocky 28, Balboa vs the Force”?
“NOOOOOOOOO!”
-Darth Vader
No sh*t, genius
ergo, ALL of the lore written since the “First” trilogy will now be voided. every single novel is incorrect.
If they threw out the novels, Star Wars would be finished. Forget the artistic angle, they would lose a huge amount of money. The books were all authorized by Lucas LTD. I can’t see him letting them destroy what he created.
Mickey Star Wars!
It won’t be the same seeing the movies open without the familiar Twentieth Century Fox fanfare… But, at the end of the day, who gives a shit. We get more Star Wars movies. Will they bring back Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Yoda as a ghost, etc?
We have to see first if it’s allowed to distribute a movie from the main franchise on another studio. I know that Warner took care of The Clone Wars, but I guess that Star Wars is supposed to be on Fox, as Indiana Jones is Paramount: the studio just pays a production fee to Lucasfilm (now Disney) and gets a share of the box office.
Nope. Disney now OWNS Star Wars. The deal with FOX is gone.
No, it is not. You need to understand how corporate deals work.
Nope. Disney owns Marvel but still had to pay Paramount for the rights of the Marvel properties they were distributing. I think Fox COULD refuse any offer.
The deal with Fox & LucasFilms was only distribution. They never retained any right to the underlying material or paid for the production of the new movies in the series. The deal between Fox & Lucas was nothing like the deal between Marvel & Paramount so Disney will not have to pay out anything to Fox.
I think way back when Lucas envisioned 9 episodes, with Luke, Han, Leia returning for the last 3. Might be too late for that now.
no.
If you read the actual interviews from way back, Lucas never planned on even 5 and 6. The original Star Wars was the single shot, and the other two developed when the studio asked for sequels. The prequels were either response to fan demand or Lucas’ greed, depending on which way you want to believe.
If the original Star Wars was made as a one-off it wouldn’t have been called “Episode IV: A New Hope.” I remember Lucas saying from the beginning that he wanted to make “the middle trilogy” then go from there. He may have said that if the movie bombed that would be the end of it. Get your facts straight.
Actually, the original plan was for nine movies, which is why Star Wars, in the opening scroll, is subtitled Episode IV: A New Hope (opening scroll – Episode IV, A NEW HOPE It is a period of civil war. Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire. During the battle, Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire’s ultimate weapon, the DEATH STAR, an armored space station with enough power to destroy an entire planet. Pursued by the Empire’s sinister agents, Princess Leia races home aboard her starship, custodian of the stolen plans that can save her people and restore freedom to the galaxy….). Lucas planned the original three (Eps 4, 5, & 6) as the first releases. Then he wanted to go back and do the first three, then make 7, 8, & 9, picking up the story of Han, Luke, Leia, etc. in the New Republic era.
Um…no. The original film did NOT say Episode IV.
It orignial film was just called Star Wars.
Episode IV was added for a release of the first film that came out just before Empire. The original was released to drum up excitement for the first sequel. Only then was it titled Episode IV, A New Hope
Time to take a cue from the Superman franchise. Start the new movies with the FOX fanfare under a credit saying “Star Wars motion picture series distribution initiated by 20th Century FOX.” It worked for Alexander Salkind.
Yes, totally agree. It’s tradition to have that fanfare. Too bad.
The iconic Williams score is traditional. So long as the films open with the Star Wars theme, the experience will be the same.
It would still feel like taking the classic Paramount logos out of Indy.
Goofy shot first!
Mickey. Yoda.
Same dif.
That is HUGE. Great home for Lucas and his characters. But Fox must be kicking themselves right about now…
This must be Part 2 of why Tom Rothman is no longer at Fox. My prediction is that new information leaks out now.
This is HORRIBLE news for creators and writers and artists. Vertical integration like this just makes it harder and harder for creatives to earn a living working for these companies… the pressure will be there to grind down wages to pay for this acquisition, and given how Disney has handled Pixar and Marvel lately, I’m far from convinced that they’ll do any better of a job with Lucasarts. Not looking forward to my union’s next negotiation with the now-smaller AMPTP.
Monopoly, Oligopoly, whatever you want to call it, I guess it’s legal now?
With George Lucas the sole shareholder, it would suck to be an employee of LucasFilms. Essentially, none of the creators or executives get ANY benefit from the sale of stock. They *might* get a benefit in other pay (what’s Lucas going to do with $2,000,000,000 in cash? Buy Obama the Presidency?)
I Agree. I see lawsuits between Disney & Fox right now. I’m in the industry and I know how Disney works. Pixar is all animation & superhero stuff. In working on American Graffiti (1972) all George Lucas wanted to do is just make his kind of movie is way. At the time, he did not want to work for the Big 6. Back in those days the studios ruled over Directors, Writers and the rest of it. George Lucas the man is a nice person and at least his business is not out in the streets like other directors. As an Intuitive, I the path what Disney is going to do with it. It is a shame.
Paramount Animation is also fucked.
Why would George sell?
Out of so many dumb comments, ONE that gets to the heart of the matter!
Easy: $$$$. That’s really all this is. Lucas was already pulling back from day to day involvement in the company, bringing in Kathleen Kennedy to run things, etc. None of his family members were all that interested in taking over, so this deal lets him cash out, and move on.
The story I heard when Lucas was making the last 3 is that after some failed ventures, and a bitter divorce, he was basically broke. He mortgaged the farm (quite literally) to get episode i off the ground then poured the profits of each into the next…intending to cash out after #3. I don’t know how that plan worked out, considering the waning interest in the last 3, but I think he found his sucker to wish upon a star and make his dreams come true…he might not have been that bad of a business man afterall.
To credit Lucas; Indiana Jones franchise owes definitive success to Lucas’ part, and a lesser know film like Tucker (Coppola & Lucas) was not at all bad either. However, everything Disney sucks!
I guess it’s not dumb if you have no reading comprehension:
“For the past 35 years, one of my greatest pleasures has been to see Star Wars passed from one generation to the next,” said Lucas. “It’s now time for me to pass Star Wars on to a new generation of filmmakers. I’ve always believed that Star Wars could live beyond me, and I thought it was important to set up the transition during my lifetime.”
– because he can’t live forever
– because he wants his legacy to have a good home
Retiring… retiring an even richer man.
The folks who believe that Mr. Lucas is retiring for the money is dead wrong. Mr. Lucas does not need the money he just wants his projects to go further in life of this world as most of us will pass on Over to the Other Side. His legacy will live on in history in making films. Keep in mind, he started in this business by just wanting to do his movies his way. No one lives forever but his movies as a producer and of independent films will live on for a long long time. I just hope Disney does not mess it up. Sounds like he is ready to retire and has been semi-retired for a year now. So he sat back and looked at the company of Lucasfilm LTD as a whole and decided to retire. I do not blame him since I know how it takes the life out of you to complete a feature film. I’ve been in the business for 41 years. I worked on, American Graffiti, Tucker and Howard the Duck. I wish him the best on what ever he decides for the rest of his life. Blessings for him and his family.
George is about to retire
cashing out?
Lucas can’t be bailing… I would imagine he would remain as a Walt Disney-like figurehead… As I recall, doesn’t Stan Lee retain some kind of title/figurehead role at Marvel..? Same idea. Fans need their gods.
Although “Bob Iger Raped My Childhood” doesn’t have the same ring to it.
“Mickey Mouse Star Wars” sounds genius, by the way.
It just seems so anti-George Lucas to sell. I mean he was willing to risk everything to do it his way when he started. Didn’t he even refuse membership in the DGA because he was so anti-establishment? To hook up with Disney, the ultimate in establishment, seems like something major has happened in Lucas’ thinking. The PR statement in the release seems way too glossy and slick. He’s a very rich man already. Was there something else happening cash-flow wise at his business to propel him to consider something totally against his nature? I think there is more to this story.
He was fined by the DGA for not showing credits at the beginning of the Star Wars movies, so he quit the DGA, which is why Steven Spielberg couldn’t film Return of the Jedi
Yet, lots of movies had done it before (Citizen Kane, Westside Story, The Godfather, anyone?) and lots after. Clint Eastwood has omitted opening credits (except for the title) in every film that he has directed since approximately 1982. Lucas did exactly the same, only showing the title. So, why did they pick on HIM and fine HIM? I would quit the DGA too over that idiocy.
Because he is convinced that the world will end in December, saw speilberg complaining about it a while ago
lol! Best comment on the entire board.
George put an escape clause in the deal. If the world doesn’t end in 2012, he can call the whole thing off.
George is selling because he has grown tired of running these companies, and his desire to tell stories has waned over the years.
George has left LucasFilm in good hands with Kathy running it.
George is ready to spend his time doing other things, and has lots of money to fund anything he may wish to develop.
Thanks, George. Have fun whatever you do.
George sold because fans are ungratefull making stupid comments about the prequals and how George raped their childhoods. They even attacked his daughters on twitter with silly bullshit. Now Disney can give the franchise to who ever and they can do what they want with it. Now we can blame who ever Disney for why it sucks. GL is the man and I am happy he helped entertain me for 37 years. Thank you George and bless your family.
Woah. Curious to see price and what this means for GL. Also, how this makes sense for D, since they already have Marvel.
Now the Hollywood Studoos can actually be cool.
Breaking: Darth Vadar the new villain in Avengers 2.
Funny, though Vader is just a bit out of his league because a little bit of telekinesis (and a few Star Destroyers) means nothing to a God of Thunder, or a Hulk, for that matter.
Given the debt that Star Wars owes to Jack Kirby, it stands to reason…
Darth “Vadar” – really ?????
Yow! Adult supervision of Star Wars at long last?
Does this mean George Lucas will now become a real-live boy?
No, he’s still “leetle wooden puppet.”;)
Does anyone know if this includes LucasArts? It’d be cool to see them do something with Maniac Mansion and Grim Fandango, film or gamewise.
YES. Maniac Mansion movie, or Disney C series, or ABC series… That’d be nice.
Sale price guess anyone?
7.4 billion for Pixar
4 billion for Marvel.
I think somewhere inbetween.
This suddenly seems very fishy with that mention of Episode 7.
Why? The only reason to pay so much money for this studio is to milk the intellectual property through a million more films. That’s the entire point. The back catalogue is just a bonus, but not worth four billion.
Marvel … LucasFilm … what’s next for the Mouse?
Go Mickey!
Four BILLION?
George Lucas, you did good.
Dayum.
Theme park please.
Yes please!!!
The theme park is a given, since there’s no legal issue like Marvel, I can see the designers starting…..now. No way they can have it ready for the movie but they can move Star Tours, freeing up valuable sq. ft. in the park. I can’t think on what the main drag would be?
BUT what about the rights to Indiana Jones ?!?!?
You mean where it says in the very first paragraph:
“The deal also includes rights to the Indiana Jones franchise.”
Yes, purchase includes Indiana Jones franchise as well.
I’m speechless right now.
I’ll believe it when I see it. This feels like an April Fool’s joke, 7 months late.
You and me both, buddy!
Well apparently the sale is true. There’s a press release on the Disney site that a friend showed me.
Whether they can pull together a feature film in less than 3 years may be another story. If I was a betting man, I’d say it’s more likely that Ep. 7 will hit screens in 2016.
HOLY MOTHER OF GOD!!! THESE NEWS ARE PETATONE !!!!!
Episode 7??? Holy sh**………
Lucas FIlm has been secretly prepping the final 3 Star Wars films all year. This might be good news if Disney has a little bit of oversight on the films.
Does this mean we will finally get a proper official HD of the OTT SW???!!!!!!
I certainly hope so.
I actually asked Disney that very question and they have no ownership of anything SW before Jan. 1 2013. I asked specifically if they were looking at a solid issue of the front 6 in HD and they clearly said they have no rights to the original 6.
Why would George Lucas do it?
because he wants to pass Star Wars to a new generation, he wants Star Wars to survive him. He explains this elsewhere.
NO, we mean the REAL reason. Not what was typed up in a Disney press release.
Maybe because he is sick of whiny fanboys and entitled critics telling him how ‘wrong’ he is for adding chapters and making changes to the world that he created.
Greedo did NOT shoot first!!!!
I can think of about 4.05 Billion reasons…
because he knows its dead and theres no more milk to be had from that cow. could also be that he realized the last 3 movies were creatively-dead money grabs.
Sorry guys, it may not be a popular assesment, but its true.
He wants Pixar back.
Say It Ain’t Solo
Fantstic comment. (High five)
Disney will edit it so he never shot at all