Disney buys Lucasfilm and promises neverending Star Wars films

[SnowmaNick]

I don't know if anyone else caught this, but George Lucas (sole owner) sold Lucasfilm to Disney for $4.1b USD. Not a bad chunk of change.

Disney plans to release episode VII in the series in 2015, and then another film in the series every 2-3 years.

Here's a link to an article about it.

Somehow the only quote that seems appropriate here is, "I've got a bad feeling about this."

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Source:
DISNEY TO ACQUIRE LUCASFILM LTD. | The Walt Disney Company

 

[its phillip]

wtf!?

I actually wouldn't mind seeing some of the EU books being made into movies, but I haven't read any of them in a long time.

I bet a disney created episode 7 would be a better movie than episodes 1, 2 or 3 though D:

 

[j_garcia]

Wow. I predict a downward spiral... At least he knew it was time to get out of it.

 

[hjustin]

The prequels left a bad taste in my mouth. So much so that I have a hard time watching the originals anymore. And I'm a guy that lived and breathed this stuff when I was a kid. I saw each film in the original trilogy as they were released theatrically. I was 6 years old when I saw A New Hope. Man, was I one jacked up little kid. Nowadays it's easy to by cynical about the franchise.

Disney needs to make the next movie a good movie first and a Star Wars movie second. If they can do this, Star Wars can thrive again. I see the potential as a good thing. Looking forward to seeing what they do and who gets involved in the development.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Well, time will tell. Disney better hurry though as I am not getting younger.

 

[brianedm]

I don't get the negativity here. Disneys done an excellent job with Marvel in my opinion. I don't see why this would be any different.

 

[jonnythan]

If they're going to make new Star Wars movies, that would be awesome.





.... As long as they chain George lucas in a basement somewhere while they find some competent people to write and direct the them.

 

[JerryLove]

According to the article: they want to do a SW movie every 3 years starting in 2015.

On the up-side: Disney has done an excellent job with the Marvel movies, and with Pirates of the Carribean.

On the down side: Lucasfilm has always been very generous with allowing fans to use Lucas properties for any non-commercial use. Disney: not so much. Also: the sequel focus of Pixar of late has me worried.

Lucas is 69. I think he just wanted to pass the franchise on so it didn't die with him.

 

[j_garcia]

Disney is just another corporation now and they were just looking for their next cash cow. Star Wars certainly is that. Rather than coming up with new IP, they buy it. Do I think they will do it wrong? Probably not at first.

The fact is though, the franchise was already not going anywhere IMO, even with Lucas at the helm.

 

[Irvrobinson]

Disney is just another corporation now and they were just looking for their next cash cow. Star Wars certainly is that. Rather than coming up with new IP, they buy it.

I think you're being too cynical. Trying to predict what will be hot with audiences is very difficult. If you were just reading an overview of the plot of the original SW film would you have thought it would be such a sensation? I know that I wouldn't; I would have dismissed it entirely as stupid. These movie franchises do have value that one cannot just draw up a business plan to replicate. Once in a while you do run into such an obvious winner that anyone could choose it, like Jurassic Park, but they don't come around very often.

I don't think of Disney as an incubator of innovation, I think of the current company as more of the entertainment business equivalent of Birkshire Hathaway than the place where Walt invented Mickey Mouse.

 

[j_garcia]

They know the first film under their direction has to be good or people will lose interest, so no doubt they will put the effort in. The article said Lucas will be a consultant as well, but yes, I am cynical.

They have done well with Marvel.

 

[j_garcia]

 

[darien87]

On the up-side: Disney has done an excellent job with the Marvel movies, and with Pirates of the Carribean.

The Marvel movies have been good, but only the first Pirates movie was any good. Disney milked the hell out of that franchise when they should have stopped with the first one.

Disney makes their share of clunkers too. Don't even get me started on John Carter.

 

[Trev]

 

[TheWarrior]

Lucas has been pushing hard to succeed with a 'family friendly' motto, and has failed miserably at most every turn. The games and some books are great, but what happened to the films was awful.

Disney has a mastery, and arguably is the text book definition of 'family friendly' and hears all sides of the argument.

The thought of Disney does bring on a feeling of downward spiral, thinking about kids movies, but they have proven that they can produce quality teen/adult content as well.

Whatever they do, it can't be worse than the prequel....

 

[j_garcia]

Good for him. Not sure if anyone could spend $4b in a lifetime, so he intends to use some or all of it for charities.

Don't expect the newly minted bazillionaire George Lucas to go off on any island-buying sprees — a representative for the "Star Wars" maestro says that Lucas will instead use the $4 billion payout in Lucasfilms' sale to Disney chiefly to back charitable organizations. A rep for Lucas said, vaguely, that Lucas "has expressed his intention, in the event the deal closes, to donate the majority of the proceeds to his philanthropic endeavours."

Lucas helps charities

 

[lario]

Business is business.....all those who say 'I hated the prequels, I hated this, and that...blah blah blah'...'Star Wars is all played out'....'the franchise was going nowhere'..and on and on and on -- if you're a Star Wars fan you WILL watch whatever new Star Wars movie comes out...probably more than once. You WILL buy the discs. Brilliant move by Disney for what I consider chump change given the potential. The next movie will come out and say, conservatively, gross $500M worldwide or? And that's just ticket sales. Time to buy stock.

 

[skizzerflake]

Business is business..... Time to buy stock.

Yeah...you're right...bottom line is money invested to make more money. When Mickey Mouse ran out of energy, Disney bought the Muppets and now The Empire. A zillion people will buy tickets to movies, buy tshirts and mugs and lunchboxes, rides can be built and Wookies can walk around Disneyworld, hugging little kids.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]