Walt Disney Presents Quentin Tarantino’s “Starr Wores Episode VII: Reservoir Jedis”, starring Justin Bieber as Luke Skywalker, with the simultaneous release of the Star Wars spin-off, “50 Shades of Jedi”, starring Kristen Stewart! Wait, that can’t be right. What I meant to say was…. Walt Disney has purchased LucasFilm yesterday for $4.05 billion and plans to have Episode VII in theaters in 2015!
Davenport & Co. analyst Michael Morris:
“We like this acquisition as the 2013-2014 [earnings] dilution estimate provided by management implies limited negative [stock] valuation impact of around $1.50-$2.00 per share at the current multiple before what should be a meaningful operating profit contribution in 2015,” Morris said. “This is not inexpensive, and the valuation will be debated, however with Pixar, Marvel and now Star Wars franchises to compliment the Disney brand, [the company] should provide a powerful kids and family content pipeline for many years.”
Looks like we’ll be getting a new Star Wars movie every three years for the rest of eternity, similar to the James Bond franchise.
Here’s all the facts that io9 was able to aggregate:
- In 2015, Disney hopes to release Star Wars: Episode VII with plans to release Episode VIII and EpisodeIX in the following years. Expect a new Star Wars film every to to three years.
- Along with Lucasfilm, Disney has purchased an extensive treatment for the brand NEW Star Wars trilogy. Episode VII is in “early development” but we’re guessing the groundwork is already being planned.
- George Lucas is a consultant on Episode VII but his intent is to retire.
- Disney plans on utilizing Star Wars in parks, resorts, television and film. But we’re not expecting a live action TV show just yet. We’re betting another Star Wars cartoon could be appearing on DisneyXD.
- What about Indiana Jones? Well, Dr. Jones is still a part of the overall purchase package — but Paramount still owns the distribution rights to the films. So don’t hold your breath for a Disney Indy movie just yet.
According to EOnline.com, EPISODE 7 will be completely original, like “nothing … [we've] ever seen or read before from the Star Wars universe.”
We all knew this was coming. We can at least rest assured that the new movies can’t be any worse than Episodes 1-3, and that Disney is probably the company best suited to the task of preserving the quality of the STAR WARS brand.
