Visit our sister site:
Follow us on
Front Page, Industry News
Disney buys Lucasfilm, plans new Star Wars
Thursday November 01st 2012Darth Vader approves of Disney’s blockbuster plans to purchase Lucasfilm and make a seventh Star Wars film.
“When I left you I was but the learner, now I am the Mouseketeer,” the dark lord (or a minion) tweeted after the announcement, to @darthvader’s more than 421,000 followers.
The Walt Disney Co. will pay $4.05 billion in cash and stock to buy Lucasfilm Ltd., the Star Wars production company, from its chairman and founder, George Lucas. It will then proceed to make a seventh Star Wars film, due in 2015, a decade after the sixth episode supposedly capped the decades-old space fantasy franchise.
The purchase price is a bit shy of the $4.4 billion combined global box office take of the previous six films, Variety reported, but that amount doesn’t include the billions more made in toy and other merchandising spinoffs.
In a 21st-century movie industry built on brand names and sequels, Star Wars is arguably more potent now than it was in the 20th century, with fans spanning the generations from Baby Boomers to Gen-Xers to millennials.
“It’s now time for me to pass Star Wars on to a new generation of filmmakers,” said Lucas, 68, in a statement. He will remain as creative consultant on the new film, and two other sequels expected to follow it.
There’s no word yet of a director, cast, story or full title for StarWars: Episode 7, which will mark the start of a third trilogy for the space fantasy series.
Also unclear is how much creative control would be exerted by Disney, which has been on an acquisition spree in recent years. The company spent billions buying rivals Pixar Animation Studios and Marvel Entertainment, and it also has distribution deals with DreamWorks Studios and über-producer Jerry Bruckheimer.
Experience suggests that Disney maintains an arm’s-length arrangement with its subsidiaries, as long as they keep making money. Lucasfilm properties also include the Industrial Light & Magic special effects house and the Indiana Jones adventure franchise.
The surprise news of the Lucasfilm purchase and Star Wars 7 plans lit up the Twitterverse, as fans and non-fans debated the pros and cons.
“I will be 43 years old in 2015, and yet I will still be lining up. This is what I do. So, who’s with me in line?” tweeted Toronto movie blogger Jason Gorber on his @filmfest_ca account.
There’s also a big hairy thumb up from Peter Mayhew, the really tall human actor inside the Star Wars Wookiee costume.
“I’ve always liked that Mouse, and I’m looking forward to all the exciting possibilities this brings to the Star Wars Universe,” Mayhew tweeted to the more than 15,200 followers of ?@TheWookieeRoars.
The enigmatic Yoda, or whoever tweets on his behalf, seems less enthused: “Releasing a seventh Star Wars film in 2015 Disney will do. Sad to hear about this I am. Anticipate cameos from Donald Duck and Goofy I do,” the tiny green sage told more than 66,000 followers of @yoda.
Comedian Mike Drucker, a contributing writer for satirical magazine The Onion, was more succinct in his slapdown: “Star Wars: Episode 7 is a message from God that he hates you,” he tweeted on ?@MikeDrucker.
Others were even more philosophical than Yoda: “Worrying that Disney will ruin Star Wars is like worrying that a second iceberg will dive down to hit the Titanic,” tweeted Zach Weinersmith (@ZachWeiner).
And, of course, there was plenty of comic snark.
“I think Johnny Depp will be great as the title character of Star Wars 7: Greedo Shoots Again, even if we can’t see him under the makeup,” said MovieCityNews.com chief David Poland, on his @DavidPoland Twitter handle.
Writer/director Lucas had previously indicated he’d reached the end of the Star Wars movie galaxy after the 2005 release of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith finally wrapped the Darth Vader/Luke Skywalker family adventure, which began with the original Star Wars in 1977 (later retitled Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope).
But Lucas never definitively ruled out a third trilogy in the series being directed by others, as happened with the first two sequels in the franchise.
As long ago and far away as the summer of 1977, when the runaway success of Star Wars caught everybody by surprise, Lucas included, he mused to Rolling Stone that he’d be happy to see the series continue: “Yes, it was one of the original ideas of doing a sequel that if I put enough people in it and it was designed carefully enough I could make a sequel about anything.”
You can’t make everybody happy, though.
The other Dark Lord, the one called Voldemort in the Harry Potter film series, grumpily tweeted about the Star Wars news on his @Lord_Voldemort7 account:
“First Harry Potter, then Twilight … if anyone attempts to cast Robert Pattinson in Star Wars 7, I’m sending out the dementors.”
Source: Toronto Star
Front Page, Industry News
Disney buys Lucasfilm, plans new Star Wars
Thursday November 01st 2012Darth Vader approves of Disney’s blockbuster plans to purchase Lucasfilm and make a seventh Star Wars film.
“When I left you I was but the learner, now I am the Mouseketeer,” the dark lord (or a minion) tweeted after the announcement, to @darthvader’s more than 421,000 followers.
The Walt Disney Co. will pay $4.05 billion in cash and stock to buy Lucasfilm Ltd., the Star Wars production company, from its chairman and founder, George Lucas. It will then proceed to make a seventh Star Wars film, due in 2015, a decade after the sixth episode supposedly capped the decades-old space fantasy franchise.
The purchase price is a bit shy of the $4.4 billion combined global box office take of the previous six films, Variety reported, but that amount doesn’t include the billions more made in toy and other merchandising spinoffs.
In a 21st-century movie industry built on brand names and sequels, Star Wars is arguably more potent now than it was in the 20th century, with fans spanning the generations from Baby Boomers to Gen-Xers to millennials.
“It’s now time for me to pass Star Wars on to a new generation of filmmakers,” said Lucas, 68, in a statement. He will remain as creative consultant on the new film, and two other sequels expected to follow it.
There’s no word yet of a director, cast, story or full title for StarWars: Episode 7, which will mark the start of a third trilogy for the space fantasy series.
Also unclear is how much creative control would be exerted by Disney, which has been on an acquisition spree in recent years. The company spent billions buying rivals Pixar Animation Studios and Marvel Entertainment, and it also has distribution deals with DreamWorks Studios and über-producer Jerry Bruckheimer.
Experience suggests that Disney maintains an arm’s-length arrangement with its subsidiaries, as long as they keep making money. Lucasfilm properties also include the Industrial Light & Magic special effects house and the Indiana Jones adventure franchise.
The surprise news of the Lucasfilm purchase and Star Wars 7 plans lit up the Twitterverse, as fans and non-fans debated the pros and cons.
“I will be 43 years old in 2015, and yet I will still be lining up. This is what I do. So, who’s with me in line?” tweeted Toronto movie blogger Jason Gorber on his @filmfest_ca account.
There’s also a big hairy thumb up from Peter Mayhew, the really tall human actor inside the Star Wars Wookiee costume.
“I’ve always liked that Mouse, and I’m looking forward to all the exciting possibilities this brings to the Star Wars Universe,” Mayhew tweeted to the more than 15,200 followers of ?@TheWookieeRoars.
The enigmatic Yoda, or whoever tweets on his behalf, seems less enthused: “Releasing a seventh Star Wars film in 2015 Disney will do. Sad to hear about this I am. Anticipate cameos from Donald Duck and Goofy I do,” the tiny green sage told more than 66,000 followers of @yoda.
Comedian Mike Drucker, a contributing writer for satirical magazine The Onion, was more succinct in his slapdown: “Star Wars: Episode 7 is a message from God that he hates you,” he tweeted on ?@MikeDrucker.
Others were even more philosophical than Yoda: “Worrying that Disney will ruin Star Wars is like worrying that a second iceberg will dive down to hit the Titanic,” tweeted Zach Weinersmith (@ZachWeiner).
And, of course, there was plenty of comic snark.
“I think Johnny Depp will be great as the title character of Star Wars 7: Greedo Shoots Again, even if we can’t see him under the makeup,” said MovieCityNews.com chief David Poland, on his @DavidPoland Twitter handle.
Writer/director Lucas had previously indicated he’d reached the end of the Star Wars movie galaxy after the 2005 release of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith finally wrapped the Darth Vader/Luke Skywalker family adventure, which began with the original Star Wars in 1977 (later retitled Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope).
But Lucas never definitively ruled out a third trilogy in the series being directed by others, as happened with the first two sequels in the franchise.
As long ago and far away as the summer of 1977, when the runaway success of Star Wars caught everybody by surprise, Lucas included, he mused to Rolling Stone that he’d be happy to see the series continue: “Yes, it was one of the original ideas of doing a sequel that if I put enough people in it and it was designed carefully enough I could make a sequel about anything.”
You can’t make everybody happy, though.
The other Dark Lord, the one called Voldemort in the Harry Potter film series, grumpily tweeted about the Star Wars news on his @Lord_Voldemort7 account:
“First Harry Potter, then Twilight … if anyone attempts to cast Robert Pattinson in Star Wars 7, I’m sending out the dementors.”
Source: Toronto Star
Leave a Reply
Front Page, Industry News
Disney buys Lucasfilm, plans new Star Wars
Thursday November 01st 2012Darth Vader approves of Disney’s blockbuster plans to purchase Lucasfilm and make a seventh Star Wars film.
“When I left you I was but the learner, now I am the Mouseketeer,” the dark lord (or a minion) tweeted after the announcement, to @darthvader’s more than 421,000 followers.
The Walt Disney Co. will pay $4.05 billion in cash and stock to buy Lucasfilm Ltd., the Star Wars production company, from its chairman and founder, George Lucas. It will then proceed to make a seventh Star Wars film, due in 2015, a decade after the sixth episode supposedly capped the decades-old space fantasy franchise.
The purchase price is a bit shy of the $4.4 billion combined global box office take of the previous six films, Variety reported, but that amount doesn’t include the billions more made in toy and other merchandising spinoffs.
In a 21st-century movie industry built on brand names and sequels, Star Wars is arguably more potent now than it was in the 20th century, with fans spanning the generations from Baby Boomers to Gen-Xers to millennials.
“It’s now time for me to pass Star Wars on to a new generation of filmmakers,” said Lucas, 68, in a statement. He will remain as creative consultant on the new film, and two other sequels expected to follow it.
There’s no word yet of a director, cast, story or full title for StarWars: Episode 7, which will mark the start of a third trilogy for the space fantasy series.
Also unclear is how much creative control would be exerted by Disney, which has been on an acquisition spree in recent years. The company spent billions buying rivals Pixar Animation Studios and Marvel Entertainment, and it also has distribution deals with DreamWorks Studios and über-producer Jerry Bruckheimer.
Experience suggests that Disney maintains an arm’s-length arrangement with its subsidiaries, as long as they keep making money. Lucasfilm properties also include the Industrial Light & Magic special effects house and the Indiana Jones adventure franchise.
The surprise news of the Lucasfilm purchase and Star Wars 7 plans lit up the Twitterverse, as fans and non-fans debated the pros and cons.
“I will be 43 years old in 2015, and yet I will still be lining up. This is what I do. So, who’s with me in line?” tweeted Toronto movie blogger Jason Gorber on his @filmfest_ca account.
There’s also a big hairy thumb up from Peter Mayhew, the really tall human actor inside the Star Wars Wookiee costume.
“I’ve always liked that Mouse, and I’m looking forward to all the exciting possibilities this brings to the Star Wars Universe,” Mayhew tweeted to the more than 15,200 followers of ?@TheWookieeRoars.
The enigmatic Yoda, or whoever tweets on his behalf, seems less enthused: “Releasing a seventh Star Wars film in 2015 Disney will do. Sad to hear about this I am. Anticipate cameos from Donald Duck and Goofy I do,” the tiny green sage told more than 66,000 followers of @yoda.
Comedian Mike Drucker, a contributing writer for satirical magazine The Onion, was more succinct in his slapdown: “Star Wars: Episode 7 is a message from God that he hates you,” he tweeted on ?@MikeDrucker.
Others were even more philosophical than Yoda: “Worrying that Disney will ruin Star Wars is like worrying that a second iceberg will dive down to hit the Titanic,” tweeted Zach Weinersmith (@ZachWeiner).
And, of course, there was plenty of comic snark.
“I think Johnny Depp will be great as the title character of Star Wars 7: Greedo Shoots Again, even if we can’t see him under the makeup,” said MovieCityNews.com chief David Poland, on his @DavidPoland Twitter handle.
Writer/director Lucas had previously indicated he’d reached the end of the Star Wars movie galaxy after the 2005 release of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith finally wrapped the Darth Vader/Luke Skywalker family adventure, which began with the original Star Wars in 1977 (later retitled Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope).
But Lucas never definitively ruled out a third trilogy in the series being directed by others, as happened with the first two sequels in the franchise.
As long ago and far away as the summer of 1977, when the runaway success of Star Wars caught everybody by surprise, Lucas included, he mused to Rolling Stone that he’d be happy to see the series continue: “Yes, it was one of the original ideas of doing a sequel that if I put enough people in it and it was designed carefully enough I could make a sequel about anything.”
You can’t make everybody happy, though.
The other Dark Lord, the one called Voldemort in the Harry Potter film series, grumpily tweeted about the Star Wars news on his @Lord_Voldemort7 account:
“First Harry Potter, then Twilight … if anyone attempts to cast Robert Pattinson in Star Wars 7, I’m sending out the dementors.”
Source: Toronto Star
Leave a Reply
Advertisements
