Having enjoyed enormous success with its acquisitions of Pixar Animation Studios and Marvel Entertainment, The Walt Disney Company has now reached an agreement to purchase Lucasfilm Ltd. from found George Lucas in a $4 billion deal that will see the Mouse House acquiring Lucasfilm and its subsidiary companies, including LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound.Of course, this also includes the Star Wars franchise, and Disney has wasted no time in announcing a live-action return to a galaxy far, far away. According to an official press release, Kathleen Kennedy will assume responsibility for all things Star Wars, and "will serve as executive producer on new Star Wars feature films, with George Lucas serving as creative consultant. Star Wars Episode 7 is targeted for release in 2015, with more feature films expected to continue the Star Wars saga and grow the franchise well into the future."
"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. "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."
With Star Wars now under the control of Disney and gearing up for a big screen return, it's unclear what ramifications this will have on the proposed live-action TV series Star Wars: Underworld, as well as the rumoured fifth instalment of the Indiana Jones franchise. However, you can be sure a host of top filmmakers will be itching to explore the Star Wars universe and if Disney can manage the property half as well as it has the Marvel Cinematic Universe, then the future could be very exciting indeed...
Update #1 - George Lucas and Kathleen Kennedy on the future of Star Wars:
Update #2 - The Playlist is reporting that Disney executives have discussed the Lucasfilm purchase during a conference call, during which it was stated the studio plans to concentrate on Star Wars, with no plans to continue the Indiana Jones franchise at this point in time. Furthermore, Episode VII is envisioned as the start of a new trilogy, with further installments released "every other year". So as it stands, it looks like we'll be seeing Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith in 3D in 2013, A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi in 3D in 2014, Episode VII in 2015, Episode VIII in 2017 and Episode IX in 2019. That's a lot of Star Wars...
Who do you want to see taking on directing duties for the next Star Wars movie? Steven Spielberg? Joe Johnston? Christopher Nolan? Michael Bay?!? Let us know in the comments below...
