Disney buys LucasFilms for $4.05 billion (1 Viewer)

[Chris Will]

Wow! John Carter ("the original Star Wars") bombs so Disney goes out and buys the real thing. I for one, enjoyed John Carter but I guess any hope of sequels just flew out the window (not that there was much to begin with).
Not sure how I feel about this news. The part that saddens me the most is that John Williams' involvement with SW is probably over unless Spielberg directs one. Williams just doesn't seem to stick with a franchise when they start changing hands, maybe Lucas can convince him to do a few. SW without a John Williams score just seems wrong, any new composer better use his themes (unlike the upcoming Superman movie which is going to suck without his theme). So the part of me that loves and collects movie scores is sad...
The part of me that loves movies is kind of happy, Lucas ruined SW with the prequels, although I do enjoy Ep.III, so some new blood will probably do wonders. They need to hurry though, by the time they get to Ep.IX, Han Solo will be using a walker. I'd love to see them use the era from the Knights of the Old Republic video games as a setting for some movies. There is so much that could be done in the SW universe, they don't have to stick to the Vader/Luke/Solo stories.

 

[joshEH]

It can't be worse than the prequels. Excited. Just don't use the same characters in Ep 7. We don't need some re-cast of Han Solo.

If Mark Hamill doesn't want to do it, get Bob Costas to play Skywalker. He looks more like an old Luke Skywalker than Hamill does, anyway.
Actually, assuming that the sequels will involve the original characters, it'll be interesting to see how the cast react to this. Hamill and Fisher have re-established themselves doing other things, and I struggle to see Ford being too interested. I think a new cast of characters with the originals dipping in and out as expanded cameos is the best bet, here.
Waitafuckingminute...
Anyhow, I think it's safe to assume that every director in Hollywood just submitted their resumé to Disney today.

Also, the best part about the news? Watching the fanboy meltdown, all this rage about Lucas. If someone offered me four and a half BILLION dollars, I would stampede on my own goddamned mother reaching for the contracts.

Exactly. The whole, twisted Daddy Complex™ that so many former Star Wars fanboys have is out in full force right now. I wouldn't be surprised if Lucas isn't getting plastic surgery to look like someone else, and moving to Tahiti to get away from them.
I'm a stuck record on this point, but geeks are like petulant, overgrown children when it comes to Lucas. Elsewhere on other Internet forums, it blows me away that people don't see the intellectual dishonesty of (for example) trying to pin everything "wrong" with Indy IV solely on him, while trying to shift the credit for the good movies he made in the '70s and '80s onto everyone other than him.
Slag his '90s and '00s work if you want (though it's entirely pointless at this point), but trying to dismiss and discredit his entire career because, let's be honest, he hurt precious sensitive geek feelings with his later work, is shoddy behavior for people who are supposed to be film fans, not just emotion-driven fanboy mouthbreathers. When Coppola puts out a bad movie (which is as often as not, these days), he never receives that same kind of rabid hatred.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Alphonso Cuaron would be my pick too. But Matthew Vaughn is now 'free" to do something else.

 

[joshEH]

Is Werner Herzog in Hollywood right now?
Because his Star Wars is the Star Wars I want to see.
"The Force is an energy field. It surrounds us, it penetrates us...penetrates us over and over again. You might say we are constantly being raped by The Force. To be used as its plaything. Midichlorians are microscopic creatures which invade our blood, saturating us with Force-rape."

 

[Ricardo C]

Exactly. The whole, twisted Daddy Complex™ that so many former Star Wars fanboys have is out in full force right now. I wouldn't be surprised if Lucas isn't getting plastic surgery to look like someone else, and moving to Tahiti to get away from them.
I'm a stuck record on this point, but geeks are like petulant, overgrown children when it comes to Lucas. Elsewhere on other Internet forums, it blows me away that people don't see the intellectual dishonesty of (for example) trying to pin everything "wrong" with Indy IV solely on him, while trying to shift the credit for the good movies he made in the '70s and '80s onto everyone other than him.
Slag his '90s and '00s work if you want (though it's entirely pointless at this point), but trying to dismiss and discredit his entire career because, let's be honest, he hurt precious sensitive geek feelings with his later work, is shoddy behavior for people who are supposed to be film fans, not just emotion-driven fanboy mouthbreathers. When Coppola puts out a bad movie (which is as often as not, these days), he never receives that same kind of rabid hatred.

That's basically my mantra: I love Star Wars, but godDAMN I hate (most) Star Wars fans.

 

[mattCR]

Just cast Nathan Fillion to play Han's grandson, 100 years in the future. When the dark Jedi return.
Or go with the Thrawn saga.
Or put some real distance in here, who knows. I think there are lots of directions this thing could go.

But bringing someone like Timothy Zahn on board as a script consultant would be a great move, and I stand by that.

 

[Sam Favate]

Didn’t see it coming.

But it makes a lot of sense, and could ultimately be good for Star Wars. Disney has done a great job with Pixar and Marvel and bringing those properties to the masses while retaining what fans loved about them. They have sought out the best creative people for them and it shows. There’s no reason to think Star Wars will be any different. Good for them and good for Lucas.

The one part I’m kind of sad about is that the private company Lucas set up in the 70s in response to the corporate Hollywood machine will be gone. Only Coppola’s Zoetrope remains from that period.

 

[TravisR]

I wonder what this means for Dark Horse. Since Disney owns Marvel, I cant see Dark Horse keeping the license past when their current contracts expire - and that's a damn shame. I've really liked (for the most part) they stuff they've done.

Dark Horse has understandably not said too much but over at Comic Book Resources, they say that

...today [Dark Horse] President Mike Richardson stated that "Star Wars" will continue to have a home at Dark Horse for "the near future."
"Dark Horse and LucasFilm have a strong partnership which spans over 20 years, and has produced multiple characters and story lines which are now part of the Star Wars lore," Richardson said. "'Star Wars' will be with us for the near future. Obviously, this deal changes the landscape, so we'll all have to see what it means for the future."

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=41930
Personally, I think Marvel will get the license but it's a shame because along with Timothy Zahn's novels, Dark Horse helped bring Star Wars back to the public eye in the early 1990's and they've done some wonderful work over the years.

The whole, twisted Daddy Complex™ that so many former Star Wars fanboys have is out in full force right now. I wouldn't be surprised if Lucas isn't getting plastic surgery to look like someone else, and moving to Tahiti to get away from them.

I hope he doesn't give them even one second of thought because they aren't worth it.

 

[Carlo_M]

As someone posted as comments on another blog (and Matt echoes above):

Just go ahead and have Joss Whedon direct with Nathan Fillion as Han Solo's grandson...tell me you wouldn't watch that movie!

I'd be there. And so would my girlfriend, who would make me camp out for this movie...because I made her camp out for Ep1 (and we all know how that movie turned out). She said "you owe me."
And depending on when they set the new trilogy, Billy Dee, Harrison, Carrie, and Mark may not need a PT or plastic surgery...they may be the perfect age to play their parts!

 

[Bryan^H]

The one part I’m kind of sad about is that the private company Lucas set up in the 70s in response to the corporate Hollywood machine will be gone. Only Coppola’s Zoetrope remains from that period.

When I first heard the news that was my first rection. Sadness. A different era I guess. The thing I like is that George Lucas has always said there would be 9 Star Wars movies, so I guess with the next sequel on its way, this is coming true. I look forward to 7, 8, and 9 with great anticipation. This news is still shocking.

 

[Coressel]

I got to meet Carrie Fisher earlier this year, and I just cannot imagine she would want to have anything to do with this. But I would like to hear what she, Ford and Hamill have to say about this.

 

[joshEH]

Just cast Nathan Fillion to play Han's grandson, 100 years in the future.   When the dark Jedi return.
Or go with the Thrawn saga.
Or put some real distance in here, who knows.  I think there are lots of directions this thing could go.
But bringing someone like Timothy Zahn on board as a script consultant would be a great move, and I stand by that.

Very interestingly, Zahn actually has a screenwriting-deal with Disney in place at the moment.
Not really being a "battered wife" myself (I've NEVER hated the prequels, and Plinkett and his ilk bug the shit out of me), I'm feeling...cautious at this time. There are some neat possibilities here, and Lucas still being a "creative consultant" could mean any number of things. I'd bet money it'll be similar to what happened to Gene Roddenberry after Star Trek: The Motion Picture -- he's kicked upstairs, and contributes ideas to the overall scriptwriting-process, passing things on to other writers (which he's allegedly been doing anyway with the in-development live action TV series).

 

[Brandon Conway]

I wonder if Lucas' retirement from the movie business side of things will actually result in him making one of those crazy indie films "no one will see" without being burdend by the Lucasfilm responsibilities. He's been talking about that for years and years and I'd be disappointed if he never tried.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Originally Posted by SamT /t/324825/disney-buys-lucasfilms-for-4-05-billion/90#post_3995739
http://starwarsblog.starwars.com/index.php/2012/10/30/the-long-winding-and-shapeshifting-trail-to-episodes-vii-viii-ix/

Thanks, Sam! Very informative blog post for a casual observer (fan) like myself.

 

[TravisR]

I wonder if Lucas' retirement from the movie business side of things will actually result in him making one of those crazy indie films "no one will see" without being burdend by the Lucasfilm responsibilities. He's been talking about that for years and years and I'd be disappointed if he never tried.

Yeah, he just got $2 billion in cash (and $2 billion in stock), I wish he'd take $5 or $10 million or whatever he needs and just do whatever strikes his fancy. Sell Blu-rays, DVDs and downloads on starwars.com. If he makes the money back, great. If not, who cares?

 

[SamT]

I wonder if Lucas' retirement from the movie business side of things will actually result in him making one of those crazy indie films "no one will see" without being burdend by the Lucasfilm responsibilities. He's been talking about that for years and years and I'd be disappointed if he never tried.

He already made those crazy little movies no one wants to see. They were the prequels!

 

[Lou Sytsma]

People actually still care about Star Wars?

I do now! My Star Wars fanboy heart has broken free through the triple shell carbonite coating the prequels put it in.

 

[Jim Barg]

Dunno how legit this is, but saw this on another forum (one that Josh upthread frequents) regarding the condition of OT prints:

https://twitter.com/gregalor/status/263382748755030016



Quote:

Those prints are dust. (Worked as Disney and Lucasarts restoration artist for 4 years.)

Hasn't Robert Harris more or less said they exist (from other sources, I think)?

 

[Jason Charlton]

Originally Posted by Chris Will /t/324825/disney-buys-lucasfilms-for-4-05-billion/90#post_3995772
The part that saddens me the most is that John Williams' involvement with SW is probably over unless Spielberg directs one. Williams just doesn't seem to stick with a franchise when they start changing hands, maybe Lucas can convince him to do a few. SW without a John Williams score just seems wrong, any new composer better use his themes (unlike the upcoming Superman movie which is going to suck without his theme). So the part of me that loves and collects movie scores is sad...

There's always the possibility of Michael Giacchino taking the reins - that would be the best choice, IMO, in terms of a composer with a more "classical" and "musical" approach to his scores.

 

[TravisR]

Hasn't Robert Harris more or less said they exist (from other sources, I think)?

Yes. The negatives MAY be gone or may have been altered when the Special Editions were made but there's no way that all the OT prints are dust as the guy on Twitter suggests. There's private collectors that own prints of them.