I would be a bad, bad movie blogger if I didn’t put something about one of the biggest announcements in motion picture history that was made late this afternoon.
Linked below is a Variety story with the particulars and a Hollywood Reporter entry that specifies what this announcement might mean.
So what happened?
This afternoon, the Walt Disney Company announced that it had acquired LucasFilm for $4 billion dollars.
What has LucasFilm done? Well, there’s 1994’s little-seen Radioland Murders. And there’s the modest hit from this year Red Tails.
Oh yeah! There’s also the Star Wars franchise. And, in what’s been under reported so far, the Indiana Jones franchise.
George Lucas was the sole shareholder for LucasFilm, which he means he made a cool $4 billi with the stroke of a pen this afternoon.
This announcement literally came out of nowhere. No rumors that I had seen anywhere and I read movie news and rumors constantly. Disney quickly revealed in the announcement that Star Wars – Episode VII will be released in 2015 and episodes 8 and 9 will follow thereafter.
Yes, a new trilogy of Star Wars! Starting in two and a half years! George Lucas will not direct them, which is frankly more great news. I certainly fall in line with the commonly held opinion that episodes I, II, and III (1999’s Phantom Menace, 2002’s Attack of the Clones, and 2005’s Revenge of the Sith) were underwhelming. And that’s being pretty kind. For a quick refresher, the next Star Wars film (can’t believe I’m writing that) will take place after the events of 1983’s Return of the Jedi.
Will we see the characters of Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Han Solo come back? Will it be all new characters? Who will be handed the enormous responsibility of directing it?
All I know is I’m pumped for it. A couple of years ago, Disney bought Marvel Films. To say they’ve had a good track record with their acquisition of that company would be the biggest understatement ever. Remember a little movie called The Avengers this summer?
Disney also owns Pixar. Uh, pretty good track record there.
With Disney owning the Star Wars franchise, it opens the very real possibility of audiences seeing the magic come back in the series…. something we hoped for so desperately thirteen years ago when Phantom Menace opened.
Expect stories soon about how Disney plans to reinvigorate Indiana Jones. But, for now, we know that land in a galaxy far, far away isn’t so far away.
My childhood memories of Star Wars always begins with that 20th Century Fox logo and its unmistakable theme. Now, we’ll see Sleeping Beauty’s castle. That’ll take a little getting used to, but if Disney handles this property the way they’ve handled other recent properties, we as an audience have a lot to look forward to!
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118061434
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/what-a-new-star-wars-384515
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