What this Lucasfilm-Star Wars acquisition means for Disney

21st Century Wire says…

Disney’s purchase of Lucasfilm will bring the world three new Star Wars movies (Episodes 7, 8, and 9) and many news ways for the company to boost its digital media revenue.

During a call to investors this afternoon, Disney said it estimated that, had Lucas film produced another three movies between 2005-2012, each would have grossed $1.2 billion in revenue after box office, merchandising, licensing, and home video sales. That makes the company’s decision to drop $4.05 billion on the acquisition less of a gamble. But if the movies will eventually recoup Disney’s initial expenses, the rest of Lucasfilm’s properties will translate into profit.

“It is a sustainable source of branded, high quality creative content with tremendous global appeal that will benefit all of Disney’s business units and is incredibly well suited for new business models, including digital platforms,” Disney CEO Bob Iger said during the investor call.

The thing about the Star Wars universe, alone, is that its freaking massive. Our copy editor Jason Wilson, who along with myself, was frothing at the mouth thinking about all the possible media properties that Disney could bring to life in cartoons, films, or TV shows or comic book form. Star Wars has hundreds of characters with their own epic tales created by novelists, comic book creators, and video game producers — and all with an official stamp of approval by Lucasfilm. There are so many stories that you literally need a timeline to see how it unfolds, beginning 5,000 years before the first Star Wars movie hit theaters to about 140 years after that first movie…

Read more at: Washington Post

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