Disney is buying the company behind Star Wars, Lucasfilm, in a $4.05bn (£2.5bn) deal. George Lucas, the company’s founder and chairman said: “It’s now time for me to pass Star Wars on to a new generation of filmmakers.”
Few films and franchises have the cult following that Stars Wars does. Some fans are worried that Disney could tarnish the brand by creating new films that are not as good as Lucasfilm’s work, but on the other hand a great deal of Star Wars fans were disappointed with the last three films.
There are plans to release the first new Star Wars film, episode seven, in 2015. Disney could bring a fresh perspective to the new, rebooted films and let’s be honest; they couldn’t get much worse than the disastrous Jar Jar Binks.
Disney bought Marvel in 2009 and has had incredible success with films featuring Marvel characters including Iron Man, Captain America and Thor. The Avengers Assemble movie which featured all of the aforementioned characters alongside The Hulk, Hawkeye and Black Widow, is on track to be the highest grossing film of 2012. Disney has also successfully revamped the Muppets brand with an award winning 2011 film.
Lucasfilm was founded in 1971 and has produced Star Wars, the Indiana Jones franchise and 80s fantasy films Willow and Labyrinth.
George Lucas will continue to work as a creative consultant for Lucasfilm. He said: “For the past 35 years, one of my greatest pleasures has been to see Star Wars passed from one generation to the next.
“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.”
Although many fans are calling Lucas a commercial sell-out, I think the Star Wars brand could flourish under some new direction. Fans are divided by the news, but shouldn’t they be happy that they’ll be getting some new Star Wars films rather than nothing at all?
Doing this is great for everyone.
Kathleen Kennedy, the Lucasfilm co-chair who was handpicked earlier this year by Lucas, will become president of Lucasfilm and serve as executive producer on the new feature films, with Lucas adopting a consultancy role.