Disney buys out Lucasfilm

[mysteriouspi]

Glad to see that people aren't just mindlessly bashing this decision like in other corners of the internet.

I think that Disney could do a great job with Star Wars. Does that mean they will? I have no idea. My hope is that they adhere to the spirit of the original films.

Also, I assume that LEGO's Star Wars licence will carry over to Disney, yes?

[Brickdoctor]

Also, I assume that LEGO's Star Wars licence will carry over to Disney, yes?

TLG has licenses with both Lucasfilm and Disney already, so the license shouldn't change.

[Flipz]

Quote from a discussion I'm part of on another (MUCH smaller) LEGO fan forum:

"George Lucas has the same problem that Gene Roddenberry had in the later years of his life: he started to see himself as a visionary, as a person gifted above the rest of society. As a result, he lost touch with the rest of the world, and ceased to produce works that would connect to said world on the same level as his original masterpieces."

Pretty much sums it up. As long as Disney doesn't mess with the canon and doesn't make the same mistakes as Lucas (and Roddenberry), it'll all be fine.

[Nightshroud99]

I'm happy about this; I don't understand how this will ruin the other films. The art of film needs to expand and grow, an impressive Mythos such as Star Wars needs this, other wise it would grow stagnant, boring, and eventually forgotten.

Frankly, I doubt this will turn out bad. The filmmaker's know the stakes, and what's more: LucasFilm is still in charge.

[Scorpion]

I will only say this: it can't get any worse than the Prequel Triology... A triology more worthy of a reboot, I have never seen!

[Masked Builder]

This will be interesting. I don't really know what to think other than; "They'd better not screw it up."

But I have to wait 'till 2015 so we'll see.

[djmangunz]

What the Star Wars franchise needs is a talented director to lead it in the right direction. A director who has an unparalleled ability to marry movie magic and action with strong, character driven stories. That director is....Michael Bay. Our savior people!

(note: sarcasm doesn't translate well over the internet)

[WhiteFang]

This certainly came as a surprise to me, and I don't find it too much of a negative news. I will think this will set a new direction for the SW universe and I am pretty sure that they are still retaining the old materials and develop much newer plots for EP 7 to 9, and whatever that they are thinking of planning to do in the future, I am confident that it will come out right.

Pretty much, for George Lucas that he had indeed amass a huge accumulated wealth for his future generations.

[Faefrost]

Quote from a discussion I'm part of on another (MUCH smaller) LEGO fan forum:

"George Lucas has the same problem that Gene Roddenberry had in the later years of his life: he started to see himself as a visionary, as a person gifted above the rest of society. As a result, he lost touch with the rest of the world, and ceased to produce works that would connect to said world on the same level as his original masterpieces."

Pretty much sums it up. As long as Disney doesn't mess with the canon and doesn't make the same mistakes as Lucas (and Roddenberry), it'll all be fine.

I think Lucas is a little different in his issues. Lucas is possibly films greatest landscape painter. He creates and populates these full living breathing compelling worlds. More than any other director he was the first to fulfill the promise of Hollywood to believably give us things that did not and could ever possibly exist. Before Lucas Sci Fi was either near future space race stories, (2001) or it was what were essentially stage plays on a future theme ( Star Trek, Forbidden Planet). Lucas changed all of that. Even at his worst in the prequel trilogies he still had that gift. (Look how many around here go crazy collecting clones.) Lucas has a great eye for things. He creates images that burn themselves into your brain, even when he doesn't realize it. (Cases in point, Boba Fett, Darth Maul).

Where he falls apart is the people parts. The words and the story specifics. This was masked in Star Wars (note I will never ever refer to it as "A New Hope") and Empire by the fact that budgetary and ,for SW , studio production restrictions resulted in a much needed form of natural editor. Irving Kirschner was able to take the torrent of brilliant imagery that flowed from Lucas and burn away the fluffier elements and strip it down to what needed to be there. And that's really all Lucas needed was a really good editor. Someone who could tell him no. Someone with the freedom to tell him something was stupid. There actually is a really good SW story buried somewhere in the PT. part of the problem is it really is only about 2 movies worth of story. A little more critical feedback earlier in the process would have made a world of difference.

But sadly Ewoks and the PT's are monsters that we he rabid fans made. Remember to complete Star Wars Lucas signed away his paycheck. All he kept was the merchandising rights. By rabidly buying every Star Wars product we could get our hands on, we gave Lucas the strength to fire the editors that he so desperately needed.

Personally if they are going to make another trilogy I have 5 words for them "Knights of The Old Republic"

That is the one thing that we can almost guarantee will never happen. KoToR has to many ties and licensing issues with Bioware and EA. unless Disney suddenly buys out EA they won't go near it for a movie.

Also, I assume that LEGO's Star Wars licence will carry over to Disney, yes?

Lego and Disney have a huge and longstanding relationship that has worked out well for all involved. PotC, PoP, Marvel Superheroes, Duplo Princesses, Cars, Toy Story, etc. if anything this will just strengthen the SW line.

[LEGO Historian]

I'm happy about this.... Lucas already said he wasn't going to do any more Star Wars films, so this is fine by me. Not everything that Disney does is bad.... for decades some of the finest movies in family entertainment was done by Disney. I'm sure it will be a quality product.

Also for those who lamented Disney's JOHN CARTER.... sadly had Edgar Rice Burrough's (author of the Tarzan series) 1910 "Princes Of Mars", upon which John Carter is based, been done back before the first Star Wars movie... it would likely have received rave reviews. Unfortunately all of the then (for 1910) novel futuristic concepts are today merely cliche's that have been done in so many other Sci-Fi movies, that it's no wonder it bombed at the box office. But so many of the Sci-Fi ideas that have permeated movies in the last 3 decades originated with Burroughs early 20th century books. That Hollywood genre owes a lot to Burroughs... and it's a pity that John Carter came out so late for that type of film.

[Tauntaunwampa]

I think that Disney would do a great job of it.

Star Wars was getting stale, near to the point of cringe worthy after Episode 1. The storyline was horrible; there were no characters that the audience could relate to etc. etc. What Lucas did create in the prequel trilogy that was amazing was an expansion of the Star Wars universe. This expansion has led to many spin offs and side stories which is evident due to the amount of comics, books, games etc. which are not only limited to the prequel trilogy.

Disney could be creating one of these spin offs. It would introduce new characters, new places, and new vehicles. A goldmine for merchandising rights. This is where I think Disney saw the potential in the ownership of Lucasfilm. I highly doubt that Disney would start where Episode 6 left off or visualise some of the Expanded Universe material considering that the actors are too old for their roles .If you argue that these actors can be replaced, I don't think it would be appropriate to bring other actors in to play those role (Zack Effron as Luke Skywalker) as that story has been told and it would be disrespectful to the other actors as well cause a rampaging fire of anger from the Original trilogy fans.

The films produced by Disney would have to be completely separate from the Fall of Anakin/Rise of Luke storyline. Taking this into account I think that the new characters will be alike of the Luke, Leia and Han trio but not the same. The new films will somewhat be influenced by the fall of the Republic and Rise of the Empire events because these are major events in the films and in the context of the Star Wars Universe itself.

Comparing this to the Marvel Universe, The events which transpired in the films have started a timeline of its own. Taking some aspects from the comics and using them for inspiration material. But the point here is that the comic and films are almost completely separate from each other. All that they have in common is that they are in the same universe (characters, subplots etc.)

While I think that Disney will go along a path similar to Marvel, they will still keep to the timeline set out by George Lucas in his previous films but the use different characters and different events that ultimately will be effected by the greater events that occurred in the George Lucas era films, will be of more use to Disney than simply picking up where a story left off.

[The_Chosen_1]

I've been speechless about the news all day! It will still take me quite a while to be able to coherently put my thoughts down. But my initial reaction is extreme excitement! I have no doubt that Disney/Lucasfilm will deliver quality Star Wars content for many years to come.

[TeufelHund]

This could really go either way - either we'll be swamped by poor quality sequels backed up by overzealous marketing or they'll produce something half-decent that does enhance the brand to some degree (I think the chance of them recapturing the magic of the original trilogy is remote enough to be virtually nil but on the other hand a lot of OT fans burnt by the PT will be more cautious at embracing the hype this time around).

In any case, it will be nice to have some films that I can take my sons with me to the cinema to enjoy Even if they're the only ones who enjoy it!

One thing is sure though - Lucas himself has been in charge of the franchise for far too long - someone else having a crack at it is definitely a good thing.

I'll be interested to see what (or if) anything is done with the Inday franchise too.

[BobThePom]

It was said on Fox News that they (Disney) will make a new StarWars movie every two or three years. Personally I think this is terrible, how many movies do they plan to make? How many will we end up with? 10? 20? 30?? For LEGO this is a bonus because it could mean a whole lot more sets but I still doubt the quality of these new movies. Nothing was a good as the Original Trilogy in my opinion.

-Bob

[deanorth]

I'm happy about that, even if there are risks... But I higly doubt we'll see Timothy Zan's trilogy as ep 7 8 9, or, it'll be as a CG movie, or talking about that time line without seeing the main EP4/5/6 characters (Luke, Han, Leila). Or, a totally different time area, old republic, or whatever....

Tough task for sure.

[XimenaPaulina]

I welcome this development, and will properly reserve judgement until there is a "concrete product a.k.a. movie(s)" to actually judge. It just amuses (and surprises) me that some fans are quite quick to draw the trigger in shooting down Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilms. I personally think this is the perfect opportunity to inject new life to the franchise, it's the proverbial "breath of fresh air" that will finally pave the way for the next trilogy, which will hopefully revive the movies after the lackluster PT. This will also ensure that our beloved LEGO Star Wars will still continue throughout the next decade or so and will give the younger and new generations to come to learn about the SW universe.

It was said on Fox News that they (Disney) will make a new StarWars movie every two or three years. Personally I think this is terrible, how many movies do they plan to make? How many will we end up with? 10? 20? 30?? For LEGO this is a bonus because it could mean a whole lot more sets but I still doubt the quality of these new movies.

The first 2 trilogies had movies that were released every 3 years so it's just right up the "2-3 years" alley isn't it? A movie every 2 years is something SW fans aren't used to, so I think it would be better if they stick with the "a movie every 3 years" formula. Disney will probably make the next trilogy first and then assess the public's reception of the movies if it's still worth continuing making SW movies or not.

Nothing was a good as the Original Trilogy in my opinion.

Was there ever a contest to this "fact"? Did anyone challenge the supremacy of the Original Trilogy in the SW movie lore? It's a well-accepted viewpoint among all SW fans (including the younger PT and CW fans) that the Original Trilogy is the best there was, the best there is, and the best that there will always be. Whatever the turnout of the new movies will be, it won't change that "universal fact", so OT fans need not get "threatened" by the new direction the SW franchise is heading to.

[Devorath]

I don't really know what to think about this (I had a lovely long speech but Invision Board decided it was more important) :/

[Brickadeer]

Quote from a discussion I'm part of on another (MUCH smaller) LEGO fan forum:

"George Lucas has the same problem that Gene Roddenberry had in the later years of his life: he started to see himself as a visionary, as a person gifted above the rest of society. As a result, he lost touch with the rest of the world, and ceased to produce works that would connect to said world on the same level as his original masterpieces."

Pretty much sums it up. As long as Disney doesn't mess with the canon and doesn't make the same mistakes as Lucas (and Roddenberry), it'll all be fine.

I disagree. The things I didn't like about the PT didn't come up after the OT; rather, they could be already observed in ROTJ, so I don't buy the "George was a great guy but than he became creative crap"-story.

He always came up with pretty good ideas, and he came up with pretty bad ideas, as well. Maybe, in the PT, not as many bad ideas were sorted out as in the OT, but that is something different than claiming Lucas' has lost his genius.

On the other hand, somehow it just seems wrong for Star Wars to be a Disney production.

Well, to me, it's this:

Disney is family-stuff. Star Wars wasn't always what Disney considers to be family-stuff. That is especially true for the PT and TCW: remember Anakin loosing his hand, or burning in the lava, or Dooku being decapicitated, or, more recently, Pre Viszla killing an innocent child and burning down a whole village, or Ahsoka decapitating four members of the Death Watch similarly, which broadly was considered to be a pretty cool move.

Maybe such scenes are not what defines Star Wars. On the other hand, I don't like idea that we won't see such scenes because they are not something that Disney wants to be associated with, which are not family-friendly enough, which may result in scenes that are less explicit, softened, and less apt to, say, raise stronger emotions.

Good story tellers have recognized that TV is the better medium for storytelling anyway. As Bryan Cranston put it in an interview in the Geman magazine Der Spiegel, "Today, the audience is much more demanding. It demands more quality, more complex stories and character, no 'of-the-pegg-clothing'. You can't do something arbitrary, nice. There won't be anymore series like "Matlock" or "Magnum". That's over. These story are too unreal."

I think that LucasArts was aware of this recent development, and that Underworld was pretty much in line with this development.

What I see is the risk that Disney will produce movies that are arbitrary and nice, but clearly not special. That's why I think that Disney is a step back, and that exploring such aspects of Star Wars will be prevented. Rather, I think Star Wars will become in a certain sense less innovative and more repetetive.

Edited October 31, 2012 by Brickadeer

[Kelmanator]

"It's a TRAP!"

[harakiri]

I think Disney will find out that they are beating a dead horse.

To me Star Wars lost its appeal a lot. I can still remember the time shortly before Episode One came out. There was this trailer and everybody was really exited about it. One or two months before the movie there was a big trade show where I was working and what we did in order to gather people around the booth is to download that trailer in the biggest available format and showing it with a projector on a big screen. Also with a top sound system. Everytime we did there were literally hundreds of people only coming to watch this, many staying after that at our booth.

I can also remember my feelings when I left the theatre after watching it: meh! Die Jar-Jar, die!

So I fear whatever Disney will produce will be as save as possible in order to protect their investment. It will be for the whole family, it will contain "things" like Jar-Jar that they can use to sell lunch boxes. It won't be too dark. And it will have top special effects in 3D (maybe with smell-o-rama, who knows) but in the end it will be lifeless.

Look at the PotC series. The first one was pretty good. They really made a huge bet in order to make this one. What came after was a bit more mediocre.

I hope I am wrong, but I expect something like the Disney version of young Anakin with a choir of Ewoks in the background in that movie (shudder)

[AudiBobaR5-D2]

Why has Disney bought out LucasArts. And would the contract between LucasArts and Lego continue for another 10 years which was confirmed either this year or last year.

I don't think we need more StarWars films as Episode VI was an epic ending to the saga, and continuing it will only makes things worse not better

[Dane]

....would the contract between LucasArts and Lego continue for another 10 years which was confirmed either this year or last year....

It all depends on what stands in the contract but usually when one company buys another they have to buy both the rights and the obligations... You can't change/erase already made contracts just because you buy the company so I'm pretty sure Lego's new 10 year contract with Lucas is pretty waterproof. Secondly has this deal between Lucas and Disney not come over night and was probably already in the works when Lego made this deal with Lucas

[AudiBobaR5-D2]

It all depends on what stands in the contract but usually when one company buys another they have to buy both the rights and the obligations... You can't change/erase already made contracts just because you buy the company so I'm pretty sure Lego's new 10 year contract with Lucas is pretty waterproof. Secondly has this deal between Lucas and Disney not come over night and was probably already in the works when Lego made this deal with Lucas

I hope so as I still need to collect some of this years sets, 2011, sets etc

[Mr Man]

The most important thing to remember is that ROTJ sucked. ROTS is one of the best films, probably after ESB.

Ewoks and Droids sucked, but CW and TCW more than made up for them.

I've chanced my mind, I want Disney to make a new film and hope it's better than TPM or ANH.

[mortesv]

My biggest problem with this announcement is how cynical it is. It respect Disney wants to make money, but statements like "we will produce a Star Wars movie every other year until end of time..." doesn't exactly fill me with confidence in the creative vision for the story or the franchise for that matter...

It is like SW has become a generic substance you can just (bi)annualise - like EA sports games.