ENTERTAINMENT: The Walt Disney Company recently bought Lucasfilm.
By Aysouda Malekzadeh, News Editor
Mickey Mouse, Buzz Lightyear and Iron Man welcome Luke Skywalker and Han Solo to their Disney home.
On October 30, the Walt Disney Company announced that it would acquire Lucasfilm for 4.05 billion dollars in cash and stock. This move was a big shock to fans of both the Mouse House and of George Lucas, the creator of Star Wars. The company also announced that it is prepping for Star Wars: Episode 7, which is to be released in 2015. More films are expected to follow.
Lucasfilm is one of the world’s most enduring and most profitable sci-fi franchises. Disney, which bought Marvel Entertainment in 2009, has essentially cornered the market of superhero and sci-fi/fantasy films by buying Lucasfilm.
The buyout is Disney’s fourth largest deal ever. The first three, respectively, are the $19.7 billion, $7.6 billion and $5.2 billion buyouts of Capital Cities/ABC in 1995, Pixar in 2006 and Fox Family in 2001. The deal tops the $3.96 billion Disney paid for Marvel in August 2009.
Under the terms of the deal, Lucas will be paid half in cash and half in about $40 million worth of Disney shares. Lucas will be the second-largest non-institutional shareholder of Disney, behind the trust of deceased Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. The deal not only includes Star Wars, but also other businesses under the Lucasfilms franchise, such as LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound. Disney revealed that the current plan is to keep Lucasfilm employees in their current locations. Industrial Light & Magic is headquartered in the Presidio in San Francisco, while Skywalker Sound and Lucasfilm are on a series of ranches that Lucas owns in Marin County.
68-year-old Lucas will serve as a creative consultant, but plans on retiring. “It’s now time for me to pass Star Wars on to a new generation of filmmakers,” he said. Lucas is “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.”
As part of the deal, Kathleen Kennedy, co-chairman of Lucasfilm, will report to Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn. Kennedy, who produced Schindler’s List and War Horse, will become the new studio president and executive producer on the new films.
Disney CEO Robert Iger expects to expand the Star Wars films schedule more aggressively, claiming, “our long term plan is to release a new Star Wars feature film every two to three years.” Iger also spoke about the potential of Star Wars being on TV as part of Disney XD.
When asked about the change, Poly student Sammy Hershkowitz (11) stated, “I am really excited about the purchase of the Star Wars franchise by Disney. Hopefully Disney will keep to the originally planned storyline in the next movies.”
With all the changes being made, the only question that remains is: does this make Princess Leia a Disney Princess?
Courtesy of thewaltdisneycompany.com