Disney Annonces Deal to Purchase Lucas Films

31 Oct, 2012

Disney has announced its purchase of Lucasfilm, the maker of Star Wars, in a $4.05bn (£2.5bn) deal that will pave the way for a new series of Star Wars feature films.

In a move that prompted excitement and speculation among sci-fi fans, Disney said the plan is to release a new Star Wars film every two to three years after bringing out Star Wars Episode 7 in 2015.

George Lucas, who founded Lucasfilm in 1971 before enhancing his name with other worldwide hits such as the Indiana Jones franchise, is a filmmaker known for exercising control over the most minute details of the fictional universe he created. So it was not a surprise to hear that Lucas will remain as a creative consultant on the new Star Wars films.

“For the past 35 years, one of my greatest pleasures has been to see Star Wars passed from one generation to the next,” he said.

“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.”

Disney’s chief executive, Robert Iger, said: “Lucasfilm reflects the extraordinary passion, vision, and storytelling of its founder, George Lucas.

“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 said it will pay about half the purchase price in cash and issue about 40m shares. The purchase, which comes in the wake of Disney’s acquisitions of Pixar and Marvel, includes Lucasfilm’s prized high-tech production companies, Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound, as well as rights to the Indiana Jones franchise.

Kathleen Kennedy, the Lucasfilm co-chair who was handpicked earlier this year by Lucas, will become president of Lucasfilm and serve as executive producer on the new feature films, with Lucas adopting a consultancy role.

It is 35 years since the first Star Wars film. The sixth and most recent instalment in the series was 2005’s prequel, Revenge of the Sith, which was given a mixed reception by critics but broke several box office records and was that year’s second highest grossing film.

However, many passionate Star Wars fans have been hitting out at Lucas for years, alleging that he had become a commercial sell-out. They railed against him for adding grating characters such as Jar Jar Binks in the second Star Wars trilogy and attacked him for tinkering with the original trilogy, too.

The criticism grated on Lucas, who vowed never to make another Star Wars movie during an interview with the New York Times earlier this year.

“Why would I make any more when everybody yells at you all the time and says what a terrible person you are?” Lucas told the Times.

Reports later suggested that the filmmaker had become disillusioned with Hollywood after experiencing difficulties in securing the distribution last year of his second world war film about squadron of African-American pilots, Red Tails, which he funded by Lucas with $58m of his own money after studios refused to back it.

In a video posted on YouTube, Lucas said the decision to continue with the Star Wars saga was not inconsistent with past statements.

“I always said I wasn’t going to do any more and that’s true, because I’m not going to do any more, but that doesn’t mean I’m unwilling to turn it over to Kathy [Kennedy] to do more,” Lucas said.

Amid a delighted reaction from many fans, suspicion and fears for the future were also present in large doses.

“I feel sick. It’s like having your Mum have an affair and remarry,” said one participant on TheForce.net fan site.

Elsewhere, one blogger suggested the most recent Star Wars films had completed the series and pleaded: “Please don’t make us regret this George. You still owe us big time for introducing us to Jar Jar Binks.”

Peter Hartlaub, pop culture critic at the San Francisco Chronicle and a Star Wars fan expressed doubt in another blog that the new Star Wars film could be turned around in time for 2015: “My hope as a fan is that this isn’t another Iron Man 2 situation, where the studio’s eagerness to pump out a sequel on a tight deadline seriously harms the potential of the finished product.”

Jay Rasulo, Disney’s senior executive vice-president, has hinted at the future direction of what the company described as the “Star Wars saga”: “Today, Star Wars is heavily skewed toward toys and North America. We see great opportunity domestically to extend the breadth and depth of the Star Wars franchise into other categories.”

The Guardian

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