Disney buying Lucasfilm - Star Wars Episode VII to follow!

The Mouse that Roared has done it again. As if owning Pixar and Marvel to go along with their signature brand didn't present enough of a stranglehold on the tentpole movie business Disney, in what can only be classified as a stunning announcement, revealed today that they are buying LucasFilm, Industrial Light and Magic and Skywalker Sound. As if that news by itself wasn't enough to send shock waves through the fanosphere the announcement also comes with the promise that "Star Wars Episode VII" was getting the green light and would be released in 2015. That film is to be followed by Episodes VIII and IX down the road.

Lucas made it clear that he will be nowhere near the directors chair for any of those efforts and that is perhaps the best part of this deal as Lucas had clearly lost his zeal for directing. (Hopefully he'll feel the same way about writing.) Turning the franchise over to more inspired, more qualified directors may go a long way in restoring integrity to a brand that was so tarnished by Lucas' sloppy handling of the prequel trilogy.

Beyond that one bit of good news though lurks Disney's future control of all things tentpole. Can this be a good thing? Really? Even with Kathleen Kennedy serving as head of LucasFilm Disney (or whatever they're going to call it) I don't see it. Lucas says in the announcement that the money he'll get will be his 'retirement fund'. Like you need to pad your 401k George. Please. If he really cared about the brand he could have done the Bill Gates thing: retire, put a Steve Balmer in charge (in this case Kennedy) and spend his dotage out in the world doing other things. But whether you or I like this move or not it's done and below is the official announcement from Disney chairman Bob "Palpatine" Iger and George "Can You Spare A Dime" Lucas.


God help us all.