Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Disney Buys LucasFilm

I can't decide if Disney buying LucasFilm is a good thing or bad thing. It was a great thing for George Lucas who sold the company for a little over $4B. Disney already says it will make a new Star Wars film to be released in 2015. To me Star wars has tried to move in a more kid friendly direction lately with Clone Wars and all the Legos and maybe it makes sense for them to sell to Disney. Yes, I worry that Mickey Mouse will show up in a Star Wars film or that every one will have a happy ending or a Finding Nemo short before the film starts. Disneyland and Disney World have long had Star Wars characters and attractions so this kind of seems like it was meant to be. Is it selling out? If you are a Star Wars fan, are you worried?


41 comments:

  1. IMO, no one can get more lame than Lucas did with JarJar Binks...as a huge fan of the series, I am cautiously optimistic.

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  2. Not good, but it was already heading that way.

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  3. Disney can tell stories, and generally do it well. Fingers crossed.

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  4. I'm not liking this at all. They should have just stuck with the original 3, IMO.

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  5. Yes. Very, very much.

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  6. My 8 year old son is obsessed with all things Star Wars. I like the original three. I'm not sure about this Disney move. We'll see.

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  7. More kid like? Wasn't Star Wars a movie for children anyways?

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  8. There is a huge market for it and Lucas made it clear he was done with the series. Let a new generation take it over and do it justice. I think this could have a James Bond legacy also.

    I would only be upset if he had sold it to Michael Bay's studio.

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    1. Ugh, I shuddered at the thought of that!

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  9. Anonymous10:48 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  10. The Clone Wars was a joke, and I hate that it was made.

    Not really interested in what Disney will put out. I agree with @Jules - Jar Jar is ridiculous. Can barely watch episodes I & II.

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  11. Anonymous10:50 AM

    To quote my beloved Simon Pegg, "Jar Jar Binks make the ewoks look like fricking Shaft".

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  12. Anonymous10:51 AM

    Since I've been a fan since 1977 and standing in line in the summer heat, i'm also cautiously optimistic. If there is any company out there that understands iconic characters, it's Disney. I do hope the tertiary characters get their time in the spotlight but I do hope Jar Jar ends up on Sarlacc pit. Looking forward to 2015 though.

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    1. Co signed. Jar Jar was god awful.

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  13. Quick point, Lucas' original vision was a trilogy of trilogies.
    So this does make sense in a way.
    The Rat can certainly manage to finance the projects, and with their marketing skills, there wouldn't be a loss even if the films tanked.
    But it's still scary to think of the Rat in control of the Star Wars Universe.
    I mean what if Miley Cyrus needs work?

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  14. It better not be another prequel

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  15. Lessee, more "Merch" characters and their kiddee pals, and since Lucas will still be a consultant there will be endless policy meetings while they rebuild the Republic, meanwhile the new Jedi's are rediscovering the bloodtest for mediflorians or whatever it was.

    Yeah, count me out. I'll watching the original Original trilogy.

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  16. Yes. And more yes.

    Pixar will be absolutely behind the next 3 episodes.

    I'm a huge star wars nut and many years ago at a Q&A Lucas let slip that he originally wrote the story and it was broken up into 3 parts. Each part was then made into 3 films, but sometime in the 80's he didn't feel that people would want to see new charcters after the 6th film and so kinda let episodes 7-9 die in development.

    Rumor has it that when Lucas licensed the material for novel adaptations to Glut and Kahn, he wasn't happy with the work and he gave the material for episodes 7-9 to Timothy Zahn who then penned the Thrawn Trilogies and was the creator of the officially licensed Expanded Universe sets.

    Either way, they seriously cannot be worse than Episodes 1-3.

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  17. Correction:

    *The first two parts were made into three films

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  18. Since Disney bought the rights, does that mean that they can overrule Lucas and release the original trilogy on Blu Ray without all the crap Lucas added in the 90s? Because that alone would make it a "win" for me!!

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  19. Doesn't one of these Star Wars movies take 3 years to make> If they're releasing one in 2015 they better get moving. John Williams turned 80 this year. He'd better take care of himself. Can you imagine a Star Wars movie without his music? Ugh. Disney is going to make one of these every few years like MGM does with James Bond.

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  20. Trogdor, just about to mention Zahn's books. Just love that trilogy and have a huge girl crush an Mara Jade. So to me, that is episode 7-9.

    I am not happy about them even making the films. But will I see them? Yes.

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  21. Ugh, I wasn't happy about this until I heard Lucas wasnt writing or directing the new movies. Then I became less distressed. The prequels were awful ( except my beloved Ewang) so maybe a new director and writing is just what Star Wars needs. I'm thinking Fincher for directing, Damon Lindelof for writing.

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  22. I have a bad feeling about this...

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  23. can't get any worse and Disney does tell stories well

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  24. VIP - I think George's ex-wife Marcia owns part of the OT. She would have to approve the release for Blu-ray - which I am TOTALLY on board with. When George released the films in 1997 he renamed them the "Special Editions" so Marcia, whom he divorced in 1983 would have no control over them. From what I've head about Marcia she's a very nice person. I can't see her blocking the OT from a decent video release.

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  25. As a die-hard Star Wars fan, I have mixed feelings. It can go two ways, the way of Pirates, where Curse of the Black Pearl was great fun and an "entire family" film, with each of the sequels being progressively worse and flimsy. Or they could be animated within an inch of their lives, which worked so well for the prequels -sarcasm font.

    I am crossing my heart & wishing on a star that it follows the Avengers in being trusted to an energetic, insightful, and entertaining writer and director.

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  26. @donner...good one!

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  27. As an enormous Star Wars fan I will say this. Disney will either rise to the occasion and ressurrect the fun, exciting feel of episodes 4, 5 and 6 or the new movies will be absolute disasters. Either way my daughter will hopefully enjoy Star Wars and can have the same excitement and wonder that i had going to midnight viewings of LOTR and Harry Potter. Afterall, it should be for the kids, right?

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  28. Worried? No, because I think the "Star Wars" franchise had just about had it anyway. On the other hand, I did kind of like (most) of the last three Lucas-made films, though they each had their drawbacks. And I definitely won't be interested in seeing anything Disney has their hands in any more than I'm interesting in watching any of the TV networks they've ruined since acquiring them.

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  29. I was thinking today about 'The Family Guy' Star Wars Musical 2-part episode, where everyone sings....Maybe it will come to pass for real.....

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  30. People moaned when Disney bought Marvel.

    Avengers was awesome.


    I don't see how anything Mickey Mouse could do to Star Wars would be worse for the francise than the Phantom Menace.

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  31. Lucas sold out Star Wars years ago.

    If you all have not seen the 70 minute Plinkett review of "The Phantom Menace", you're missing something both hysterically funny and incredibly insightful:

    PhantomMenaceReview

    A friend of mine is taking a UCLA screenwriting course and she sent the link to her professor and he loved it and sent it to everyone in their class to view.

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  32. I know this is not the popular opinion, but I liked the second set of movies better than the first. The effects were better, but more importantly the acting and production values were better. And I thought Jar Jar Binks was adorable! Be gentle in your excoriation. BTW, I hate Disney. But I have no doubt their pockets are deep enough to find genuine talent to write the last three movies if they choose to do so.

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  33. I think it is selling out, but I'm not going to lose any sleep over it b/c I'm not a super fan.

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  34. Cee Kay, I too liked Jar Jar Binks. I was truly shocked when people were writing about it being racist as I honestly didn't interpret it that way.

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  35. Just NO!!! These 2 do not have any business together. Love both seperately but Lucas Disney? No!! Call me old fashioned but the original trilogy was the best and did not Ned new technology to update any of the characters. They totally screwed up Yoda in the new movies.

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  36. I don't care. I think Star Wars was over after Return of the Jedi. If Harrison Ford wasn't in it, it wasn't Star Wars to me.

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  37. I'll be cautiously optimistic after seeing how "marvel"ous The Avengers turned out. If anything, Princess Leia as a Disney Princess kinda makes me smile.

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  38. Rumor has it that the original main cast members are going to be in the new film. (followed by 2 more)

    I know this because my Star Wars obsessed daughter knows...and she is psyched that her 2 biggest (entertainment) loves are becoming one.

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