It’s November, not April – so this isn’t a hoax, I guess:
Disney acquired Lucasfilm for 4.05 billion dollars, and in that deal has acquired all right to Lucas’ effects house ILM and the Star Wars brand. As a result, Disney has announced the intention to release a Star Wars film in 2014. Lucas has this to say about giving Star Wars over:
“For the past 35 years, one of my greatest pleasures has been to see Star Wars passed from one generation to the next. 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.”
I honestly am at a loss for words.
UPDATE: interview with Lucas on the future of the Star Wars franchise:
UPDATE 2: a positive take from RealLifeComics:
Translation of the interview: “Xerxes gave Ephialtes mountains of gold and concubines… and likely a heavy percent of the back-end on any future Star Wars projects.”
That said, I can forgive and forget… as long as Disney re-releases the original trilogy and fixes the scene where Han shoot Greedo.
agreed. I famously (heh) was willing to boycott Star Wars over the Special Editions, myself. Having Blu-ray of the originals would do a lot to warm my heart towards this. Also, the point made by Greg Dean of the comic stands: Disney wants movie franchises, and has a history of recruiting geek directors for geek projects.
On the downside, this does mean that a Marvel-Star Wars crossover could theoretically happen.
Or maybe it means that Jedi could appear as characters on Once Upon a Time? I’ll leave that as ambiguous on the up/downside tally.