Where do I start? How about a long,
long time ago in a galaxy... NAH! Too cliché. As a challenge to
myself (and a blessing to my readers) I am going to do my best to
resist all urges to the typical silly Star Wars puns. Let's just get
right down to it. A blockbuster deal went down, one that will change
the Hollywood landscape as we know it. On October 30, a day that
will go down in film infamy, George Lucas' sold Lucasfilm Ltd and all
its assets to behemoth Disney Studios for a whopping $4 billion. The
sale includes the premiere special effects house Industrial Light &
Magic and Skywalker Sound. That is huge news. The announcement only gets
bigger. On top of all that, Disney also purchased the rights to the
Star Wars franchise, they now own the universe that Lucas spent his
life creating. Now THAT is a huge deal.

The plans are to release a new Star
Wars film every 2 years starting in 2015. Few details have be
announced as to just what the story will be, but it is confirmed it
will be a continuation of the original trilogy story, hence the 3
films will be Episode VII, VIII and IX. The big question is, in what
way will this be a continuation? The reports and speculation are
conflicting.
What we do know:
- Lucas will not write or direct – he will serve as creative consultant but plans to retire.
- Lucas provided treatments for the entire trilogy.
- The next three films will close out the saga.
- Once this trilogy is complete, Disney will most likely produce additional Star Wars films that are not directly related to the original saga.
- Disney has already started working with writers.
- They will be drawing storylines in part from already published materials, most likely Timothy Zahn's “Thrawn Trilogy.”
- Mark Hamill has been reached out to for some sort of on screen role, to what degree we do not know. It is rumored that numerous members of the original trilogy cast will make appearances if not star – most likely in cameos, but this is mostly speculation.
So who are the winners and who are the
losers of this deal. Here is my assessment of it all.
The Star Wars Franchise - WINNER
- Remember when the first prequel was announced? It was one of the
greatest announcements ever. Years before it even came out we knew
we would see it and ted to love them - they were Star Wars films
after all. Lucas would never do us wrong. After years of waiting we
finally were able to get our opening day tickets, put our hair up
like Princess Leia and sit down to watch them. From the opening
scrolling text, where we first read some bullshit about the taxation
of trade routes, something felt off. As we sat there and watched an
annoying little boy with a bad haircut and a obnoxious CGI abomination, we tried to like the film.
We walked out of the theater with the same reaction, Lucas used the
film to sneak back in time and kill our youth. Maybe we missed
something, maybe we were all too tired that day. A repeat viewing
would improve the situation... and we saw it again. We tried to like
it, we really did. But we didn't. Many of us lived in denial and
had faith the second film would reignite that true love of the
series. It didn't. Then we waited for that reaction from the third.
Sure, it was awesome... I guess. After years of inner conflict the
truth was something we would allow ourselves to accept. The prequels
kind of sucked.
That bring us to today. After the
prequel trilogy how much worse could it get? Disney is working with
Lucas, they are also going to work with some of the brightest names
in the industry to try to not screw these up. Rumors have already
started as to who will direct, from Christopher Nolan to JJ Abrams to
Joss Whedon. You can rest assured Disney will bring in someone with
some skills, someone that will ignite the hopes of those fans turned
away by the prequels.
To tell you the truth the problem is
not only the prequels, the saga needs a proper conclusion. “Return
of the Jedi” had many great moments, but it also had the Ewoks and
the fact that all they could come up with for the big bad was ANOTHER
Death Star was uninspired at best. I want resolution, not a teddy
bears, a dance sequence and rehash.
If these stories truly do continue the
story and don't simply try to extend it we could see a revitalization
of a franchise that reached its peak about five seconds into “The
Phantom Menace” and took a nosedive from there. We want love Star
Wars again. If all goes right we will once more. If not, it is
unlikely our distaste will grow.
The Fans - WINNERS - As
I just said, it can't really get worse. The prequels are a punchline
to jokes. The reaction to them goes from detested to tolerated. I
do not know anyone that can straight out say they love the prequels,
you kind of just accept them. So we will all go through this again.
We will get excited about a new Star Wars film, we will see it and
hopefully we will love it. And, if not, at least we will get to
experience that kid like level of anticipation that is so much fun.
They may be great, they may be terrible, at least we will have a
chance for redemption. Let' call it a new hope.
The
Star Wars Purists - LOSERS (for now) - The purists I
speak of are those of us that want to see the original theatrical
release of Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi
released on DVD/Blu-Ray. We do not want the Special Editions that
came to theaters in the 90's or any of the countless renditions Lucas
has delivered over the years. To them we say, “Nooooooooo.” We
want the untouched theatrical versions. The bad news, 20th Century
Fox owns the first six "Star Wars" films, at least until
2020 and the original movie, "Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope,"
is theirs forever. Unless Disney and 20th Century Fox can
work out a deal original, unedited trilogy box set is not coming any
time soon. The good news, when it finally does become available, it
will probably be a letdown anyway.
Disney - WINNERS -
Disney CEO Iger’s announcement of the Lucasfilm acquisition said
this, “this transaction combines a world-class portfolio of content
including ‘Star Wars,’ one of the greatest family entertainment
franchises of all time, with Disney’s unique and unparalleled
creativity across multiple platforms, businesses, and markets to
generate sustained growth and drive significant long-term value.”
In other words we are going to make a boatload of money. Early
estimates are Disney will make about $31 billion off the acquisition.
Not bad for a measly $4 billion investment.
The haters already hate Disney, buying
Star Wars will not change that. There is a chance though that they
could put out a great trilogy and earn some respect from the haters,
even if they won't admit to it.
George Lucas - LOSER -
I know what you are thinking, the guy made $4 billion on this deal,
how can he be a loser? He made a beloved trilogy* of films and
nothing can ever change that. But, the prequels are like his version
of the asterisk next to the name of Barry Bonds in the record books,
the achievement will always be tainted.
This is a no win situation for the guy.
If the new trilogy stinks fans will question selling the franchise rights to Disney, the studio that made the classic “John Carter.”
If the films are great or even good fans will say that the reason for
their success was the limited involvement of Lucas.
In my mind, Lucas' biggest mistake,
besides making the prequels, was not hiring someone to help him write
dialogue and co-direct. That cast can definitely act, but even a
great actor cannot sell some of the terrible lines they were
provided. It has been revealed that Lucas is
donating the money from the deal to charity, that is awesome. He is
a good man, just one that needed to know how to ask for help.
*Sorry Lucas, the trilogy is beloved,
but the most beloved is 1980’s “The Empire Strikes Back,” which
just happened to be directed by Irvin Kershner.
Indiana Jones Franchise - LOSER –
If you want to throw some salt
in George Lucas' wounds let's bring up “Indiana Jones and the
Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” or worse yet just mention Shia
Labeouf. Certainly Lucas would like to redeem himself for that dud,
but the word is that the series is dead as we know it. Disney will
now own the rights the franchise and supposedly there are several
factors working again a final hurrah: Spielberg is done with the
action genre, there is no script or even treatment in the works and
Harrison Ford is 70 years old. Disney appears to be focused on Star
Wars, if a Harrison Ford sequel to the Indy series would be made it
would have to be soon, but nothing appears to be in the works. If
you want my opinion (and I know you do) forget “Crystal Skull”
and accept the “Last Crusade” as the close of the franchise –
it may just be the best in the series.
Jar Jar Binks and the Ewoks -
LOSERS - Just because.
Well
I did it. I finished this extremely long article with out any Star
Wars puns or goofy references. If you see me you can pat me on the
back. Until then, enjoy this cool video that goes through all of the
first six films. Warning, if you have not seen all of them this
video is full of spoilers. Then again, I doubt you would read this
far if you hadn't seen them all.
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If you enjoyed this article, do me a favor and LIKE the FilmSnork Facebook page. It is full of good stuff.
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