Disney has just confirmed that it has agreed to acquire George Lucas‘ Lucasfilm Ltd, and that includes rights to the Star Wars franchise that will now continue on.
The companies have targeted a 2015 release for Star Wars: Episode 7,
with Episode 8 and Episode 9 to follow as the the long-term plan is to
release a new feature every two or three years. “The last Star Wars movie release was 2005’s Revenge Of The Sith
– and we believe there’s substantial pent-up demand”, Disney said. The
deal also includes rights to the Indiana Jones franchise.
The stock and cash transaction is worth an estimated $4.05 billion,
and the companies have scheduled a conference call in a half-hour to
discuss the deal, which was approved by the Disney board and Lucas, the
sole Lucasfilm shareholder.
As for the new Star Wars installments, the companies said Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy would be executive producer on Episode 7 and any more Star Wars
movies, and Lucas would serve as creative consultant. There was no
indication about where the story would pick up, though technically in
the franchise’s chronology it would follow Star Wars: Episode 6 — Return Of The Jedi, the third film in the initial trilogy that came out in 1983.
As part of the deal, Kennedy will become president of Lucasfilm, reporting to Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn. Kennedy, who was made Lucasfilm co-chairman June 1 as heir apparent to Lucas, will also serve as the brand manager for Star Wars,
whose feature films have earned a total of $4.4 billion in global box
to date. And that doesn’t even take into account the franchise’s massive
merchandising clout that Disney CFO Jay Rasulo said will generate in
2012 close to the $215 million in consumer product revenue Marvel had
when Disney bought that comics business in 2009.
Disney has built its business under chairman and CEO Bob Iger around such major acquisitions as Marvel, Pixar, ABC and ESPN.
“Lucasfilm reflects the extraordinary passion, vision, and
storytelling of its founder, George Lucas,” Iger said in a release
announcing the deal. “This transaction combines a world-class portfolio
of content including Star Wars, one of the greatest family
entertainment franchises of all time, with Disney’s unique and
unparalleled creativity across multiple platforms, businesses, and
markets to generate sustained growth and drive significant long-term
value.”
Disney is paying approximately half of the consideration in cash and
issuing approximately 40 million shares at closing based on Disney’s
stock price on October 26. Lucasfilm is 100% owned by Lucasfilm chairman
and founder Lucas.
“For the past 35 years, one of my greatest pleasures has been to see
Star Wars passed from one generation to the next,” said Lucas. “It’s now
time for me to pass Star Wars on to a new generation of filmmakers.
I’ve always believed that Star Wars could live beyond me, and I thought
it was important to set up the transition during my lifetime. I’m
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. Disney’s
reach and experience give Lucasfilm the opportunity to blaze new trails
in film, television, interactive media, theme parks, live entertainment,
and consumer products.”
Lucasfilm’s businesses include live-action film production, consumer
products, animation, visual effects, and audio postproduction. Disney
also acquires the technologies from the San Francisco-based company,
which operates under the names Lucasfilm Ltd., LucasArts, Industrial
Light + Magic, and Skywalker Sound.
No comments:
Post a Comment