Star Wars bought by Disney and plans to make 3 sequels

From the official press release:

Global leader in high-quality family entertainment agrees to acquire world-renowned Lucasfilm Ltd, including legendary STAR WARS franchise.

Acquisition continues Disney's strategic focus on creating and monetizing the world's best branded content, innovative technology and global growth to drive long-term shareholder value.

Lucasfilm to join company's global portfolio of world class brands including Disney, ESPN, Pixar, Marvel and ABC.

STAR WARS: EPISODE 7 feature film targeted for release in 2015.

Burbank, CA and San Francisco, CA, October 30, 2012 – Continuing its strategy of delivering exceptional creative content to audiences around the world, The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) has agreed to acquire Lucasfilm Ltd. in a stock and cash transaction. Lucasfilm is 100% owned by Lucasfilm Chairman and Founder, George Lucas.

Under the terms of the agreement and based on the closing price of Disney stock on October 26, 2012, the transaction value is $4.05 billion, with Disney paying approximately half of the consideration in cash and issuing approximately 40 million shares at closing. The final consideration will be subject to customary post-closing balance sheet adjustments.

"Lucasfilm reflects the extraordinary passion, vision, and storytelling of its founder, George Lucas," said Robert A. Iger, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company. "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."

"For the past 35 years, one of my greatest pleasures has been to see Star Wars passed from one generation to the next," said George Lucas, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lucasfilm. "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."

Under the deal, Disney will acquire ownership of Lucasfilm, a leader in entertainment, innovation and technology, including its massively popular and "evergreen" Star Wars franchise and its operating businesses in live action film production, consumer products, animation, visual effects, and audio post production. Disney will also acquire the substantial portfolio of cutting-edge entertainment technologies that have kept audiences enthralled for many years. Lucasfilm, headquartered in San Francisco, operates under the names Lucasfilm Ltd., LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic, and Skywalker Sound, and the present intent is for Lucasfilm employees to remain in their current locations.

Kathleen Kennedy, current Co-Chairman of Lucasfilm, will become President of Lucasfilm, reporting to Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn. Additionally she will serve as the brand manager for Star Wars, working directly with Disney's global lines of business to build, further integrate, and maximize the value of this global franchise. Ms. Kennedy will serve as executive producer on new Star Wars feature films, with George Lucas serving as creative consultant. Star Wars Episode 7 is targeted for release in 2015, with more feature films expected to continue the Star Wars saga and grow the franchise well into the future.

The acquisition combines two highly compatible family entertainment brands, and strengthens the long-standing beneficial relationship between them that already includes successful integration of Star Wars content into Disney theme parks in Anaheim, Orlando, Paris and Tokyo.

Driven by a tremendously talented creative team, Lucasfilm's legendary Star Wars franchise has flourished for more than 35 years, and offers a virtually limitless universe of characters and stories to drive continued feature film releases and franchise growth over the long term. Star Wars resonates with consumers around the world and creates extensive opportunities for Disney to deliver the content across its diverse portfolio of businesses including movies, television, consumer products, games and theme parks. Star Wars feature films have earned a total of $4.4 billion in global box to date, and continued global demand has made Star Wars one of the world's top product brands, and Lucasfilm a leading product licensor in the United States in 2011. The franchise provides a sustainable source of high quality, branded content with global appeal and is well suited for new business models including digital platforms, putting the acquisition in strong alignment with Disney's strategic priorities for continued long-term growth.

The Lucasfilm acquisition follows Disney's very successful acquisitions of Pixar and Marvel, which demonstrated the company's unique ability to fully develop and expand the financial potential of high quality creative content with compelling characters and storytelling through the application of innovative technology and multiplatform distribution on a truly global basis to create maximum value. Adding Lucasfilm to Disney's portfolio of world class brands significantly enhances the company's ability to serve consumers with a broad variety of the world's highest-quality content and to create additional long-term value for our shareholders.

The Boards of Directors of Disney and Lucasfilm have approved the transaction, which is subject to clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act, certain non-United States merger control regulations, and other customary closing conditions. The agreement has been approved by the sole shareholder of Lucasfilm.

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I'm split on this.

1. 3 more films, could be even worse than the prequels, could though turn out half decent, Disney over the past few years have churned out a few decent films
2. Lucas had ended up becoming for the most part hated by the Star Wars fanbase (which is a bit weird being he invented it), will Disney now take that hated mantle and make him look the good guy?

I don't want 3 more movies, the current cycle was rounded off nicely.

Sounds like an excuse to grind a franchise for all its worth.

i cant see what they can do with it now tbh

looks like there just trying to get money out of it even though theres hardle anything that can be down as it was rounded of nicely

Well there's an absolute wealth of books that have been written continuing the story afterwards with the Heir to the Empire series etc.
It just depends if they wish to class the Expanded Universe as canon (there's quite the sliding scale of 'canon' within Starwars)

Theres also now an MMO and countless other games. Still doesn't really require a new trilogy other than as a cash cow

I think at the moment, this could go either way. I imagine the sequels will have to be set many, many years after the original trilogy for it to make any sense.

Disney's most recent non-animated project in John Carter failed miserably, which is not a good sign for the future of Star Wars.

On the other hand, Disney could breathe new life into the franchise, move away from Lucas' creative control of the series and bring it back to the reason so many people enjoyed the trilogy.

I think they'll probably be at the same level of the prequels, not better but not worse.

This has taken me by surprise - wouldn't have expected George to sell Lucasfilm.

Having said that, this has reminded me that I predicted a while ago that someone would eventually make more films (continuing the story to honour the originals blah blah) - but I didn't think it would happen during George Lucas's lifetime [because he's finished making his films and didn't think he'd let anyone else do more], and the thought promptly disappeared from my brain. Should have suspected something funny was going on when seeing all the Mickey Mouse / Star Wars cross-merchandising at Disney World recently!!!

Anyone have any idea how this might affect Indiana Jones? Disney theme parks have tie-ins to that franchise as well.

It could go either way but look at what Disney have done for the Marvel films, especially the Avengers, 2015 will be the summer of Disney with the new Star Wars and Avengers 2 coming out

George's original plan was to have 7, 8 and 9 set 20-30 years after Return of the Jedi with Luke as old as Obi Wan in A New Hope and Han and Leia living together. I doubt this will happen as Hamill and Ford hate Star Wars.

Apparently a source has said the new films will have nothing to do with anything we've seen, in film, tv or books. Which is a shame. I'd like to see the Thrawn trilogy put to film. Hard to imagine how they could make it not related, they must mention at least some names we already know even if they don't make an appearance.

I think Carey Fisher hates it as well, although frustratingly, they're all probably at the perfect ages to play the characters.

The only way I can see them not using any material from books, tv, film or games is to set it so far in the future that they're no longer relevant. I'm thinking a few hundred years. Then at the beginning they can say a long, long time ago, but not as long as last time, in a galaxy far far away.

Empire take a look at some of the expanded universe material to suggest some possibilities:

http://www.empireonline.com/features/Future_of_star_wars/

I would add "Lego Star Wars" to the list of ideas.

there's all ready a lego star wars cartoon

From what i have read Disney are planning on releasing a new Star Wars film every 2 years not just 3 more sequels , they are also planning on making new Indiana Jones movies aswell .

Why for Ford et al, hate Star Wars?

I can see Disney at some point remaking the original trilogy.

Hero wrote:I can see Disney at some point remaking the original trilogy.

Using Disney characters.

Hero wrote:From the official press release:

Acquisition continues Disney's strategic focus on creating and monetizing the world's best branded content, innovative technology and global growth to drive long-term shareholder value.

Lucasfilm to join company's global portfolio of world class brands including Disney, ESPN, Pixar, Marvel and ABC.

2. Lucas had ended up becoming for the most part hated by the Star Wars fanbase (which is a bit weird being he invented it), will Disney now take that hated mantle and make him look the good guy?

First things first - what a load of city speak drivel those highlighted lines are.

Next: Disney seems to be assuming quite an entertainment [and it's technology] monopoly by any standards and could other entertainment companies begin to complain about such a hefty market advantage?

Final point: I think it a little over-stated to suggest Lucas is hated. I think most people mght use the words "frustratedly disappointed" that a man who created such a world would then almost single handedly set fire to it with his most recent wooden and greenscreened-to-death trilogy.
Like many Producer/directors, he's gradually lost the energy or deftness of touch to be at the helm of his own creation anymore - and that is the sad bit. But the new owners might indeed pump renewed energy into the StarWars world (rather like the new Bonds have re-energised that franchise.)

Beer wrote:Why for Ford et al, hate Star Wars?

I'm not sure about Ford but I know Hamill hates it because he was the star, the hero, and he's just angry Harrison had a great career after Star Wars and his, and everyone elses, just pancaked. (That's a term right? It is now) He's jealous he didn't become the major star Ford is.

Harrison Ford didn't even like Star Wars during Star Wars, that's why Han Solo was put in carbonite after Empire Strikes Back as they weren't sure he'd be coming back for Episode VI.

Carey Fisher dislikes it for similar reasons to Hammil I believe, in that it pretty much stopped her ever becoming a respected actor after being Leia.

Alec Guiness despised it as well. I'm pretty sure Ewan McGregor isn't thrilled about being in the prequels.

I'm pretty sure only the guy who played Chewbacca was happy with them.

And the guys who played C3P0 and R2D2 absolutely despise each other (Anthony Daniels and Kenny Baker).

Crimey wrote:

Alec Guiness despised it as well.

Alec Guinness was the shrewdest of them all. He made a fortune out of it. He took a cut of the royalties before anyone even considered it would be such a hit. So much for the old man being the one you'd expect to be out of touch with the more creative methods of making a killing on a possible cold turkey.

I'm fairly sure that Ford took a share of royalties (which might have contributed to jealousy). And of course, Lucas himself took the unprecedented and extremely risky step of agreeing to receive merchandise royalties as part of his remuneration. The boy done good.

As for cast members who might have enjoyed their Star Wars experience... did anyone see Life's Too Short? Warwick Davis! - particularly the character but I think the person himself

I think both Anthony Daniels and Kenny Baker enjoyed Star Wars as well, they just can't abide each other, Baker was a right little perv, the inside of R2D2 had naked women images all plastered inside of it.

Dave Prowse also enjoyed it but was a tad disappointed his thick West Country accent wasn't used nor did he appear at the end of ROTJ.

Tends to be the guys behind masks etc that still like to be associated with it and Ive most of them over the years at geek conventions (fave being Michael Sheard who played Admiral Ozzel in ANH and Mr Bronson in Grange Hill as I breakdanced for him whilst drunk).

Is Hannah Montana going to be in it?

Well with most people disappointed by the prequels, this could be good as there are no expectations this time. As has been said earlier, the star wars universe is so massive that they really could just make a new movie every 2 years without them even necessarily being connected. The scope of what's possible is endless, I'm surprised someone's only thought about this now.

As long as they dont screw up Indiana Jones I dont care. Especially if this means a sequel to the Indiana Jones game from a few years ago (which got canned due to budget).

Not sure about Hamill refusing to do it and hating star wars, he has appeared in a number of roles over the years mocking his character (Jay and Silent Bob for a start), so seams to have quite a sense of humor about it. And as for Harrison Ford, he said he would never do another Indiana Jones 20 years ago!!

As said above, Avengers was awesome and the time and effort to build to it with several franchises coming together was worth the wait. If they can do something similar with Star Wars (obviously not the franchises per say but maybe a couple of new movies set in the star wars universe introducing new characters and subtlety throwing in old ones) it could work well given the time (say like the 5 years or so it has slowly been building the avengers before even launching the franchise)

I don't think Disney can make any more Indiana Jones stuff, Paramount still have the rights to those films (for now). It wasn't factored into the deal apparently.

Star Wars is a much more marketable franchise than Indiana Jones really, which relied upon Ford's charisma.

Star Wars has pretty much unlimited possibilities as it could be set in any time period, in any part of the galaxy.

I hope they do actually move away from the current block of characters a fair bit, the prequels often felt at times that characters we remember had to be somehow shoehorned into it.

It's possible that too much focus is on the "Disney" part of the deal. Their recent history suggests to me that as an organisation (post-Michael Eisner), they now understand that if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Pixar and Disney allegedly were close to ending their relationship after a fallout with Eisner at the centre (as an example, I believe it was reported that he didn't like Finding Nemo and perhaps even tried to pull the plug prior to release). After he left, Disney bought Pixar and installed their chief [John Lasseter] as head of all animation across the expanded Disney group, which also secured the continuation of Pixar's independent and entrepreneurial approach I think. They seem to have had a non-interference approach since tying up with Marvel Studios as well from where I'm sitting. It was Marvel who started off with the ambitious plan to develop films on individual characters (drawing heavily on source material so as not to alienate the fans), building up to the Avengers.

So what do Disney bring to these relationships? Finance, distribution, world-class marketing and merchandising etc. Possibly technology and other support as well, don't know. But they don't have to meddle with the creative process.

Hopefully, they will do similar with Lucasfilm and Star Wars.

[OK, I accept that some people say that Star Wars is broken anyway - I don't really agree with this myself though]

I hope they move away completely. As much as people would like the idea of revisiting the characters from the original trilogy, the risk involved in ruining these characters which for the most part managed to stay intact despite the prequels is very high.

They could do literally anything, it would involve less risks and more maneuverability for stories.

One director who I think could do an amazing job would be Christopher Nolan. However, there are obviously some disadvantages.

Advantages
- He tries to avoid the overuse of special effects, preferring to use stunts which would be perfect for Star Wars where the prequels suffered from too much special effects.
- He's managed to reboot Batman when the most recent incarnation had been ridiculed for good reason.
- He would be able to give a gritty version of the Star Wars universe that so many people want to see.

Disadvantages
- He'd clearly not be the head creative guy, which might stifle him completely. George Lucas is still creative consult, which means I imagine he has a lot of say in how the films are set out (at least initially).
- While you can get away without not overdoing special effects in something like Batman, which is set in a realistic world, it'd be difficult to pull it off in Star Wars which involves lots of sci-fi elements.
- The gritty version is perhaps not what Disney will want, their Marvel films were good, but not gritty in the same way the Dark Knight trilogy was. Star Wars will almost definitely be aimed at Children because all the money is made in toys.

Christopher Nolan:

Advantages: If Vader appeared, or indeed any Sith Lord, well you could be guaranteed he'd be...dark with a capital D. You could also probably guarantee that they would certainly be more of them than the comic relief guys, to keep us handless throat grip enthusiasts happy

When you're darkest creation, your box office magnet, only makes a fleeting appearance at the end of a very long sequence of useless movies, you know the creator has lost the belief in his own world.

Disadvantages: Well in fact I'd see many - but a humourous one would be that he'd more than likely have Cillian Murphy as one of the Siths! Cillian always has to be somewhere.

Y2James wrote:As long as they dont screw up Indiana Jones I dont care. Especially if this means a sequel to the Indiana Jones game from a few years ago (which got canned due to budget).

You mean Kingdom of the Crystal Skull didn't ruin Indiana Jones already?

Y2James wrote:As long as they dont screw up Indiana Jones I dont care.

You haven't seen the latest one then?

I am fearful for Disney's ambition to continue the franchise exponentially. I think the franchise would lend itself well to games and cartoons in order to loosely be considered 'canon' but I don't think they should make more films. If they set the new trilogy immediately after episode 6 who would they recast as Luke, Leia, Han Solo etc? This could potentially damage continuity. If they set it decades after episode 6 in order to use the original cast then you have to decide whether it is going to be distopian (like the original) or utopian (which the ending of ROTJ suggests). If it's Utopian it doesn't make for compelling storytelling and if it's distopian then it could potentially taint the original trilogy that ended on such a hopeful note. Script writers and directors will need to tread carefully.

Em... I was thinking more a complete rethink of episodes 1, 2 and 3! Remake the 'beginning' - rewrite the 'beginning', recast the 'beggining'.... anything to get rid of the bad taste of the existing prequels. That would be a positive beginning. Anything to get rid of that wishy washy version of teenage, stroppy, badly acted Darth that haunts me so

I'm disgusted that Lucas is letting The Mouse stick his fingers into his pie.

Still, the new movies don't surprise me; when TESB was released I heard some talk of a triple set of trilogies planned, including a trilogy prequel and a trilogy sequel.

It remains a heavily lucrative market, judging alone off all the video games that keep getting released (even if they're all largely terrible apart from Knights of the Old Republic and the MMO). Free cash for Lucas considering he doesn't have to do anything.

I thought Force Unleashed was a good game as well with an actually good storyline.

I'm not sure how anybody can be "disgusted" by this considering the person who has done more harm to the franchise is Lucas himself, I think it's will only be a good thing that it is no longer in the hands of one man who seems to do things to spite the fans of Star Wars (Greedo shooting first etc.)

Star Wars will now be worked on by teams of good writers who have the opportunity to actually do something great with the potential the franchise holds without the megalomania of Lucas behind it.

The writer of the episode VII, at the moment (obviously possibly could change) is Michael Arndt who wrote two excellent films in Little Miss Sunshine and Toy Story 3. His vision sees the cast coming back as older characters, although it's not clear whether this is as cameo roles, smaller roles or the main roles. Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill are all apparently (and surprisingly) upbeat about returning.

Personally, I think a large part of the problem for those of us who have grown up on Star Wars is exactly that - we saw the original trilogy as children and have since grown up.

My favourite film during my school years was Return of the Jedi. Why? It resolved the story, culminating in the powerful scenes of Darth Vader's redemption. Watching it back now, my reaction is "Ewoks??? What the hell were they thinking?".

You could ask youngsters who have beed fed a diet of Episodes I-III what they think, fair enough, but the world in which they are growing up is very different so it wouldn't be a foolproof experiment. For the record, the split of vote between my [two] nephews as to which trilogy is better is 50:50. However, I don't think either of them felt that homicidal urge that many critics did towards Jar Jar Binks.

I sense a disturbance in the Force...

My own view is that the original trilogy are the best, despite their flaws. Like Skydiver I still can't understand why they felt they needed to have Ewoks in Return of the Jedi...but at least I suppose it shows Lucas' apparent insistence on having comic relief characters in his films isn't anything new (though some might say R2D2 and C-3PO filled that requirement more than adequately).

Still, I couldn't help but think having a human resistance force (or even Gungans) on Endor would've been more credible opposition to the might of the Empire.

That said, Episodes I-III are good in their own way, showing the Old Republic before its fall and chronicling Anakin Skywalker's conversion to the Dark Side. Think the Anakin - Padme story could've been done better, but the rest of the films make up for that.

I just hope Disney's films make a complete break with Episodes I-VI and look at other aspects of the SW universe, as I really can't see where you could go from there. After all there are plenty of novels they could pick from.

I remember as a kid reading books about Han Solo and Chewbacca's adventures as smugglers. I recently read Outbound Light, which introduced the character who would go on to become Admiral Thrawn. Or how about a Rogue Squadron style movie, with Wedge Antilles as the lead character?

Ok Rogue squadron was also a quality game.

Still, I couldn't help but think having a human resistance force (or even Gungans) on Endor would've been more credible opposition to the might of the Empire.

Straining my memory, but the empire were building the death star mark II and had the shield system based on Endor - right? Why would they base it on a planet containing hostile natives that were a threat.

Plus there is the wholesome chest nut of underestimating your enemy/the under dog.

From what I read in the comics after the ROTJ, I think there is slight potential for Star Wars.

For me Jacen Solo could be to the trilogy that Luke was to the original and Anakin was to the prequels. I just think rather than poo pooing it totally look at the formula that has served it well. Yes centralising it around 1 character is somewhat repeating the age old formula, but it does work. The issue I had with the prequels was that the chemistry between Obi Wan and Anakin was so good, that in 2 movies it didn't feel like we saw the best of it. The spin off Clone Wars for me was too far-fetched. With Maul coming back and other tid bits.

In terms of impact yes it might not have the cutting edge that the original had, but it is about expectation. The Phantom Menace was utter crap because most of the film was based around that moronic Jar Jar Binks than anything else. In comics outside the films, Darth Plaguesis was alive during the prequels. It seemed so much detail was penciled outside the films that it does make the screenplays very thin.

I think until they decide what route to go down storywise it is difficult to see where they take it. If the Nolan Batman trilogy could urine on the previous incarnations, who is to say that the new Star Wars couldn't eclipse it's predecessors.

If what i read today is true then it could be time to rejoice as Lawrence Kasdan has agreed to write the future episodes !

I;d love to see the story of Han Solo going awol on the empire and freeing Chewbacca then winning the millenium falcon off lando and going adventuring across the galaxy. Can't wait