In what can only be described as some of the biggest movie related news ever, Disney has acquired Lucasfilm for $4 billion and has already set a 2015 release date for STAR WARS: EPISODE VII. Wow. Kathleen Kennedy will become the new President of Lucasfilm.
George Lucas will be a part of the new STAR WARS as a creative consultant and had his hand in drafting the treatment for EPISODE VII, which will kick start a new trilogy that has already been mapped out. Disney is also looking to further expand the STAR WARS universe using their Disney XD T.V. network.
If you’re interested you can watch this interview with George Lucas in which he talks about the sale and the future of STAR WARS.
Disney has been on a roll lately, gobbling up companies to expand their intellectual property holdings. First there was Pixar, then Marvel, and now Lucasfilms has fallen under their powerful and golden boot. I will admit that this news has actually got me pretty excited. I’ve honestly never been a big STAR WARS guy, but you could see in the later movies that Lucas just wasn’t as into it as he should have been, so giving the franchise to someone else seems like a great way to breathe some life back into it. And just looking at the way Disney has handled the Marvel films, well, this seems like its all gravy.
Not to mention that Disney has also acquired one of the premiere special effects houses in the world, that being I.L.M. I see absolutely nothing bad about this deal for Disney or STAR WARS as a property.
