Not pictured, Jar Jar Binks stuffed into a suitcase and LEFT FOR DEAD…
You go to sleep for a few hours and the movie business throws you a curve ball over night.
George Lucas is $4 billion richer, Disney now owns Lucasfilm and have a new trilogy of “Star Wars” movies in the works. Things are in such a state of advancement that a treatment exists for the first in the proposed new series, with releases scheduled at a decent clip of every two to three years.
Of course, the negative Padawan in me is convinced that Disney’s involvement hastens the inclusion of Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber being cast as the offspring of Han Solo and Princess Leia, cheese-ball 3D bombast and full CG characters so irksome that they make Jar Jar Binks look like Marlon Brando. But Disney involvement hasn’t exactly hurt Marvel Studios‘ world-domination strategy, so perhaps the knee jerk reaction to the House of Mouse snagging the rights to a Galaxy Far, Far Away should be tempered by the prospect that the best thing for the universe that George built is for its creator to hand the Bantha reins over to a new creative team?
I’m just intrigued by who Disney are going to enlist to bring this new series of films to cinemas worldwide. Lucas is on board as a creative consultant and won’t be helming things – dare we hope for the calibre of filmmakers on First Showing’s list of suggested candidates (yes, yes, YES to Brad Bird. A marriage made in nerd heaven…).
Related articles
- Disney buys Lucasfilm: Five questions answered (newstatesman.com)
- George Lucas: I Sold Lucasfilm To Disney To ‘Protect It’ (techcrunch.com)
- Disney Buys Lucasfilm and the Star Wars Sequels Begin (nerdist.com)
Fluffrick 
The best part of this news, even more than the promise of more Star Wars movies, is taking the property away from George Lucas.
Perhaps he was as tired of the story as were many of the fans who grew up with the original trilogy? He’s at least displaying some of the integrity, in walking away and donating the handsome Disney fee to his educational charity, that many of his harshest critics claimed he was lacking during the making of the prequels.
I’m genuinely intrigued to see what Kathy Kennedy and the Lucasfilm/Disney marriage produces.