SciFi fandom was shocked on October 30th, 2012 to hear the official announcement of the purchase of Lucasfilm Ltd. by the Disney Corporation. Initial opinions were of disbelief, fear for the future of a beloved franchise, and rapidly checking calendars to check that it wasn’t April Fools. Add in the announcement of a new Star Wars movie being released in 2015, and you have enough Star Wars news for an entire year, let alone a single day.
So here are the facts. George Lucas has officially entered into a purchase agreement with the Walt Disney Corporation to purchase Lucasfilm, and all subsidiary companies. This includes the complete marketing wing, LucasFilm Animation, Skywalker Sound, and LucasArts among others. The final purchase price was $4.05 billion, with half as Disney stock. All this money and stock goes to George Lucas as he was the sole owner of all the companies, and has historically been one of the principal financers of major projects. For instance, Lucas personally financed Star Wars Episode 6: Return of the Jedi, which almost bankrupted him after his wife left him with their children and sued for half his assets.
Many people have expressed fear for the future of the Star Wars franchise in the hands of Disney, but I think it is important to look at how Disney has handled other companies it has purchased and their previous relationship with Lucas. The same fear was expressed when Disney purchased Marvel, and what have we seen in terms of changes since then? Well, the comics have not changed at all, and we have seen some of the best superhero movies in history, all leading into a great ensemble movie in The Avengers. Disney has almost acted as a background financer for Marvel, giving them almost complete creative freedom, while providing the financial backing to produce these huge projects. Pixar is another huge company owned by Disney, though it actually has some Lucasfilm history of its own. Pixar was originally founded as part of Lucasfilm Animation, before being split off and sold to Apple, who in turn sold it to Disney for a nice profit a few years later. Pixar has also enjoyed a certain autonomy from Disney, enjoying their financial backing and character licensing, but with creative freedom.
Then there is the fear of Star Wars being ‘Disney-ified’ with Mickey Mouse running around as a Jedi. Umm, sorry to break it to you, but Jedi Mickey has been around since the late 80’s when Disney partnered with Lucasfilm to produce the Star Tours ride at Walt Disney World. Star Tours is a popular attraction as well at Disneyland, Tokyo Disneyland, and France Disneyland as well. In addition, Disney World has been home to the Disney Star Wars Weekends since 1997, where fans can meet stars from the movies and participate activities for kids. The Indiana Jones Experience is another popular attraction at Walt Disney World, again based on a Lucasfilm license (it is currently uncertain what the fate of the Indiana Jones franchise is with this purchase).
So, on to the movie. Episode 7 will be the first movie to be released in the main Star Wars story arc since Episode 3 in 2005, followed by new movies every two or three years. At least one new trilogy is planned, apparently set a few decades after the end of Return of the Jedi, though there could be more. George Lucas will now act as a creative consultant for the movies, as current co-chair of Lucasfilm, Kathleen Kennedy, will act as President of the Lucasfilm division under Disney chairman Alan Horn. Some people are worried about the potential changes to the movies under Disney, and if they will become too childish. It should be pointed out that the gungans and ewoks were both created by George Lucas, so it can’t get much worse. Now before people start complaining that releasing a new movie every two or three years is too fast and the quality will drop, or it is just a cash grab, look at the release dates of the previous movies; A New Hope – 1977, The Empire Strikes Back – 1980, Return of the Jedi – 1983, The Phantom Menace – 1999, Attack of the Clones – 2002, Revenge of the Sith – 2005. Wow, almost exactly 3 years between each of the movies in the Original and Prequel trilogies, so this really isn’t speeding anything up.
An interesting point some people have raised is the opportunity for other directors and writers to create new stories, and movies within the Star Wars universe. Imagine a gritty origin story for Jango Fett (which already exists in the comics by the way) by Quentin Tarantino or something. How about letting Joss Whedon pilot a new movie? With Disney producing a new tv show based on the SHIELD characters from the Avengers, there is the possibility of the Star Wars live action TV show finally coming to fruition. There is a vast amount of expanded universe content within the Star Wars universe that could be developed into video games, movies, TV, and other forms.
Recently, Harrison Ford said he would be open to reprising his role as Han Solo in a new Star Wars movie, but wouldn’t agree to anything until a director and script were finalized. Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher have been rumoured to be open to the idea of returning as Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Organa again as well. But then there is also the opportunity to see a partnership between Pixar and Star Wars, think of the possibilities that open up when you can have the original actors provide the voices for new Star Wars stories.
With only about two years till the expected release of Episode 7, there should be more information coming soon like the director, returning and new actors, previews and trailers. Until then, the possibilities from this new partnership are definitely worth watching.
Leave a Reply