OMG - Disney purchased Lucas Films

[SoulBender]

Source: DISNEY TO ACQUIRE LUCASFILM LTD. | The Walt Disney Company

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.

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.

[SoulBender]

So... Who will play Luke, Liea, Han...

[clamus68]

Impressive, first they buy Pixar, which was originally a Lucas deal prior to Jobs getting it. Now they are going for the whole shebang. Well Lucas has brought me many great memories, heck Return of the Jedi was the last movie me and my dad saw before he died. I am happy for him and look forward to what the future holds for Star Wars and Star Wars Land at Disneyland.

[Lucious]

I say recruit the cast of the Big Bang Theory. It would be a bit "Space Ballsy" but it would be fun LOL

Actually, going with unknowns like Lucas did would serve them well. Nobody currently acting today would be able to pull it off to the rabid fan-base's liking. There's a ton of actors I like, but I cant think of anyone I would like to see in the lead roles.

[kgotter]

I'm actually going to play doucebag here. I think this will be terrible. Disney is big buisness and big buisness milk assets until the fans get so pissed off they stop watching them. So what's going to happen to the IP we all love?

[mlambros79]

They could just set it 30 or so years after ROTJ and have the same actors. They need to get in shape though...
During this time we have the New Jedi Order in its prime and the Yuzhan Vong are the main villains. Jacen and Jaina Solo and Ben Skywalker could be the young bucks of the series...

[Jetsu]

Disney is big buisness and big buisness milk assets until the fans get so pissed off they stop watching them. So what's going to happen to the IP we all love?

If they ruin it I doubt it would be because they were just sucking it dry and moving on. I could see them changing the general feel of the IP in an attempt to attract a different crowd. There's so much in the EU that people would watch they could safely ride the gravy train without even coming up with much new, but it still wouldn't surprise me if they tried to make it "more Disney" to the point where it's incompatible with the current Star Wars market.

I've enjoyed a lot of what Disney has done over the years though, so I may enjoy what they come up with. Plenty of people would probably argue they couldn't do any worse than what George was doing recently.

[Count Sacula]

[Jetsu]

Not exactly what I had in mind, but yeah, something like that.

[Zargs]

Pixar is doing damn good and its under Disney. So why cant SW be good?

[Lucious]

You Have to realize that Disney isn't ONLY Disney. They aren't all Mickey Mouse ears. Before they launched Touchstone, they put out The Black Hole (quite violent sci-fi movie) and Tron (amongst other adult fare) under the DISNEY name. To minimize the damage from the more adult-themed movies, they opened Touchstone in 84 with Splash. After that, they've had some really successful pg-13 and r-rated films. Touchstone has some of the best television out there too like Lost, The Golden Girls, Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives and tons more.

Lucasfilm will be its own entity, just like Touchstone, under the Disney umbrella, So I wouldn't be pushing the Disney-fied versions of the franchise. That's really just insane thinking. Disney has been around a very long time and has not made very many Mis-steps along the way (except Eurodisney being built in a country that hates foreigners LOL). They turned ABC into a ratings leader from the bottom of the barrel, they have improved the ESPN brand, in my view, partly in being an leader in 3d broadcasting technology and acquisition of NFL Games programming.

We all have known for years Lucas was going to give up the biz. I think his thought process leading him to Disney was pretty compelling and sincere (although our glimpse was short). He knows he needs no more money. he is egotistical, though, so he wouldn't hand it over to just any group of schmucks. He carefully chose Disney to sell to. I am not really sure that Disney was "courting" him. It was all Lucas. Like he said, now he can sit back and watch his universe as a fan knowing it is in good hands.

Love or hate his latest films in the SW universe (i loved them. there were some uncomfortable things, but I got over it because the positive FAR outweighed the negative) he has built something that is enormously popular world-wide. Star Trek isn't like it, Even Hairy Pot-head isn't like the SW Universe. They are 1-dimensional, albeit entertaining, comparatively.

[Jetsu]

Each company has their own ideas of how best to run a company and manage an IP. It remains to be seen what changes Disney makes to incorporate Lucas Arts within their culture. They may leave it mostly alone and let it run itself, but they could easily change certain policies that will hurt or improve what's coming out of LA as well.

Star Wars has been a family series for a long time anyway so I'm not really worried about them making it too "child centric". Since there were plenty of things I felt LA wasn't doing the best (like letting Lucas direct his own movies, the "Han shot second" remakes, etc...) this could easily be a good change.

[Lucious]

Letting George direct his own films? He is the sole owner of the business. Nobody LETS him do anything. HAHAHA

Until this announcement, Lucas has said that he is done with film making and would be pleased to have 7,8,9 be directed by someone else. He just said HE wasn't going to do them. He was retiring.

And keeping on hearing he doesn't have the right vision for the SW brand is the dumbest shit I have ever heard. HE IS the brand. If his vision has all Wookies walking around in dreads, then they BELONG in dreads. This stuff comes from HIS mind, how can YOU or ANY other asshat tell him his creation/vision isn't right? Many, Many more times the amount of people enjoyed 1,2,3 than didn't. Those who didn't, think they have some sway or belief THEY know the SW universe better than the guy's mind it sprang forth from. Lucas has had this shit in his head for decades.

If you, Jetsu, wrote a book, i would read it but unless it was non-fiction, I would have no justification to tell you it was wrong. Like Cameron and Avatar. How can the next one be wrong? It is his world, his vision, his intellectual property, HIS MIND.

[Jetsu]

If you, Jetsu, wrote a book, i would read it but unless it was non-fiction, I would have no justification to tell you it was wrong.

Right, but you'd still have every justification for telling me it wasn't enjoyable or could have been made more-so if done differently, which was exactly what I was doing.

Edit: I'd like to point out that I actually enjoyed a lot of the theatrics in the movies and even enjoyed the general plot of them. I still feel like he should have stuck with his expertise (story writing) and let others check and balance him on more of everything else.

As the owner it is his right and I definitely understand the desire to keep control to himself, but ultimately it's wise to get council from others as well. With the depth of talent and skill LA had at it's disposal there was a lot of untapped potential when one person thinks they need to make all the decisions.

[clamus68]

...This stuff comes from HIS mind, how can YOU or ANY other asshat...

If you, Jetsu, wrote a book, i would read it but unless it was non-fiction, I would have no justification to tell you it was wrong. Like Cameron and Avatar. How can the next one be wrong? It is his world, his vision, his intellectual property, HIS MIND.

Why does any dissenting opinion to his require cursing and demeaning language? Why do the moderators let this abusive behavior continue?

He makes good points but to call someone a name because there is a dissenting voice is not right even if it is a broader context. The implication is clear, anyone who disagrees with him is an "asshat." This is a friendly forum. One can disagree without cursing and name calling.