Two of the biggest entertainment names on the planet have joined forces.
The Walt Disney Co. has acquired Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion in cash and stock and announced a newStar Wars movie to be released in 2015.
Kathleen Kennedy, who is currently the head of Lucasfilm, will be president of Lucasfilm.
Disney is paying about half the purchase price in cash and will issue 40 million shares of stock, the company said in a statement Tuesday.
Kennedy will serve as executive producer on new Star Warsfeatures, with the franchise’s creator and Lucasfilm founder George Lucas, 68, serving as creative consultant. There are plans to release a new Star Wars film every two or three years
“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, chairman and CEO of Lucasfilm, in a statement. “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.”
The deal comes on the heels of Disney’s 2009 acquisition of Marvel Entertainment and its 2006 purchase of Pixar Animation Studios, two potent entertainment brands that appeal to families. The Disney board has approved the Lucasfilm acquisition, but it is subject to antitrust scrutiny by the U.S. government.
While Lucas and Disney have had a long relationship, it has been most visible at the company’s theme parks, where Star Tours and other attractions have been popular for more than two decades.
However, the Stars Wars movies have been distributed through 20th Century Fox, which will now be cut out of future Star Wars and other related business. (Although Fox already has been set to release 3D versions of the past Star Wars movies, it is unclear whether that relationship will be affected by the sale. The acquisition also raises questions about the future of Stars Wars: The Clone Wars, a highly popular series on Cartoon Network, which is owned by a Disney competitor, Turner Broadcasting, a division of Time Warner.)
Whedon, Whedon, Whedon
Hopefully this new Star Wars film will be Episode 0 (something to do with the original sith lords) and not an Episode 7 (somthing to do with the new jedi council).
Did Lucas REALLY need more money???
He donated $4 billion of it to education.
Need’s got nothing to do with it.
*prepares to dodge flaming poo* Honestly I can see now how this might be a good thing, but no matter what they will tick off star wars fans. If they go forward with EP7, then they have to decide whether to use an existing EU story, ticking off movie only purists, or a new storyline that ignores the EU, ticking off the EU fans. The ballsyist (sp?) and possbily best option might be to just, *holds up poo shield* reboot the whole thing. I know reboot is a bad word, especially around here, and I usually agree, but after the mess we, the fans, were left with after the prequels imagine what a properly rewritten, reshot version of the two trilogies would be like? It could be epic if done right, and that is honestly my best hope for star wars. Heck even just a redo of the prequel trilogy would sit right with me if they did it right.
But please so singing Leia’s we already know how that turned out, Holiday Special
I have a feeling it will be a similar situation to what happens in the Trek novels….the EU will be its own canon but it won’t be official. While it sells well, it’s still too much of a niche of the overall movie going population.
Can’t wait for the Death Star ride.
It’s called Star Tours….
I think this is great. Disney is in the business to make money and they will finally make sure new movies get made. Just wish they had totally washed their hands of George Lucas.
If I know Disney, they wil totally eff it up. However, they will still make billions doing it because so many lemmings will line up around the theater so see whatever slop Disney serves up. People are often funny that way. Just say’n…