Source: Collider | Yahoo Finance | Official Star Wars Website | Posted By: Dan Geer
Yes, it is in fact NOT April Fools Day, and you have indeed read the headline correctly. It has been confirmed that Disney has purchased Lucasfilm for approximately $4 Billion and is planning to release Star Wars: Episode VII by 2015 – the first of an entirely new trilogy!
Read on for details, as well as a video with George Lucas announcing the news!
Update: A new video has just emerged with Bog Iger, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company, and George Lucas announcing in greater detail the future of Star Wars. Hit the jump for all the goodies!
We’ve known for a while now of George Lucas’ decision to step away from Lucasfilm and hand it over to his trusted Indiana Jones Producer Kathleen Kennedy as co-chair while he goes off to make smaller, independent films. But this now appears to have become just a small part in a bigger decision by Lucas, which is to hand over the company to a much bigger entity, and allow more Star Wars films to be produced. Kennedy will now become the President of Lucasfilm, and answer to Disney chair Alan Horn.
Yahoo Finance summarizes the news as follows:
Under the deal, Disney will acquire ownership of Lucasfilm, a leader in entertainment, innovation and technology, including its massively popular and “evergreen” Star Wars franchise and its operating businesses in live action film production, consumer products, animation, visual effects, and audio post production. Disney will also acquire the substantial portfolio of cutting-edge entertainment technologies that have kept audiences enthralled for many years. Lucasfilm, headquartered in San Francisco, operates under the names Lucasfilm Ltd., LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic, and Skywalker Sound, and the present intent is for Lucasfilm employees to remain in their current locations.
Here is a statement from George Lucas regarding the decision:
“For the past 35 years, one of my greatest pleasures has been to see Star Wars passed from one generation to the next,” said George Lucas, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lucasfilm, in a statement. “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.”
A recent conference call with shareholders confirmed that Episode VII will be the first in a new trilogy of Star Wars films, and that the treatment for the film (on which Lucas acted as creative consultant) has already been completed. Episode VII is is planned for 2015, with Episodes VIII and IX planned for 2017 and 2019, respectively. Lucas is on board as creative consultant for all three films, but will not direct.
Lucas has stated for years now that the Star Wars saga ends with Episode VI (Return of the Jedi), but we’ve all known that he’s had ideas for stories taking place after, ever since a 1979 on set interview he did during the making of The Empire Strikes Back. Early statements from Lucasfilm have conveyed that, if Episodes VII-IX ever got made, they would deal with Luke Skywalker in his sixties as a Jedi Master, passing on the torch to the next generation of Jedi during the dismantling of the Empire and rebuilding of the new Galactic Republic. Mark Hamill has even talked about this in many, many interviews over the years. However, we don’t know what the current story treatment is as of right now, so the above synopsis is completely subject to change.
Check out this annoucement video from Kathleen Kennedy and George Lucas:
I’m still in disbelief about the news, since this just basically came out of nowhere, and we have all been under the impression for at least the better half of a decade that there would be no Episodes VII, VIII, or IX. I don’t even think Lucas himself thought there would be any more. But now that’s all changed, and, with Lucasfilm already having great relations with Disney in the past, fans can now shout out with even more confidence than ever before the popular fan catchphrase, “Star Wars is forever.”
Update: A new video has just emerged with Bog Iger, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company, and George Lucas announcing in greater detail the future of Star Wars:
This video also puts out there that there are more film possibilities after this new trilogy, which could be anything when it comes to Star Wars. An adaptation of Knights of the Old Republic? Or the much-beloved James Luceno novel, Darth Plagueis, perhaps? The possibilities are endless, and fans should be nothing but excited by all of this.
