Here’s the fifth – and final – video in the series
Lucasfilm officially acquired by Disney
And the deal is done. Lucasfilm Ltd. is officially a part of Walt Disney Co., the company reported Friday. For his part, George Lucas has acquired $2.21 billion in cash and 37.1 million shares of Disney, which based on today’s closing price totals to about $4.06 billion – a bit above the previously reported price of $4.05B. Lucas has said he plans to give most of the money to charity.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Lucasfilm to the Disney family,” said CEO Bob Iger. “Star Wars is one of the greatest family entertainment franchises of all time and this transaction combines that world-class content with Disney’s unique and unparalleled creativity across multiple platforms, businesses and markets, which we believe will generate growth as well as significant long-term value.”
In addition to Lucasfilm and Star Wars, Disney also acquired subsidiaries LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound, as well as an endless parade of blaster-toting Disney Princess jokes.
The EU (no, the other one) approves Disney’s purchase of Lucasfilm
The European Commission, the European Union’s antitrust regulator, has approved Disney’s $4.05 billon deal to purchase Lucasfilm Ltd. from George Lucas.
The U.S. feds OK’d the deal earlier this month.
Report: Marvel to replace Dark Horse as Star Wars comic publisher in 2014?
Blue Sky Disney reports that it’s all but certain that Disney won’t be renewing Dark Horse’s contract to publish Star Wars comics, and that the Star Wars comics will return to their original home: Fellow Disney brand Marvel. Honor Hunter writes:
The Suits in the know have determined that no new contracts will be given to Dark Horse after the current ones expire. So all new projects after 2013 will be handled internally by Marvel.
A blog report is anything but confirmation, but there’s absolutely nothing surprising about this – it was predicted by most of us the very first day of the Disney sale.
Comment from Dark Horse? Randy Stradley posted “don’t believe everything you read on the Internet” on their boards today.
Willow turning 25, coming to Blu-ray next year
USA Today reports that a digitally restored version of Lucasfilm’s fantasy film Willow will be coming to DVD on March 12.
Willow was originally released in 1988. It was produced and written by George Lucas, directed by Ron Howard, and starred Warwick Davis, Val Kilmer, and Joanne Whalley.
The Blu-ray will contain commentary from Howard, Davis’s own personal video diary, and and Dennis Muren’s “From Morf to Morphing: The Dawn of Digital Filmmaking” with a new intro.
Anyone who thinks George Lucas might have issues with redheaded ladies working for evil empires should probably check this one out. Of course, as a child of the late 80’s, I admit I have a HUGE soft spot for this movie and will totally be buying it.
Crystal Skull lawsuit: It belongs in OUR museum! (As do some of the Indiana Jones profits)
Indiana Jones was called a grave robber and “obtainer of rare antiquities” in his career, but at least in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the skull ended up in its rightful place. Not so much with another crystal skull, which was referenced in the 2008 film: the Mitchell-Hedges skull, found in British Honduras (now Belize) in the 1920s.
Now, the Institute of Archaeology of Belize is using the Illinois courts to get the Mitchell-Hedges skull back from its discoverer’s family, and are even claiming that the skull’s likeness was used as the basis for the fictional skull in the Indiana Jones film without Belize’s authorization and thus the country deserves a chunk of the profit from Lucasfilm and Paramount (and now Disney). Or could it be that the crystal skull prop (and the Mitchell-Hedges skull) are based on the design of human skulls (albeit for the movie, some proportions were extended to alien dimensions).
The lawsuit alleges that there are only four known major crystal skulls in the world, including the one in the British Museum. Wait, the British Museum rock crystal skull was determined not to be Mayan or Aztec, but made later, from material not in the pre-Columbian Mexico trade network. Not a good start for this case.
Whether the Mitchell-Hedges skull is stolen property that needs to be repatriated to Belize is one case, but then dragging Lucasfilm into the case for claiming stolen profits is going to be a much tougher case. Or was the goal to just get some PR for this lawsuit?
The (completely unofficial) Star Wars style guide: Terms every fan should know how to use correctly
Every time I see someone use the term ‘Jedis,’ I sigh.
Maybe it’s petty, but few things drive me battier than glaring Star Wars typos, particularly when they come from professional and semi-professional news outlets. Here are a few Star Wars terms and spellings every fan (and entertainment journalist) ought to know and use correctly in the years ahead.
THR names Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy as one of the top 10 women in entertainment
The Hollywood Reportor has named Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy as one of their top ten power women in entertainment.
Kennedy is ninth on the list, which is led by Disney’s Anne Sweeney and NBC’s Bonnie Hammer.
The full list of 100 will be released later today.
Disney purchase of Lucasfilm approved by feds
Federal antitrust regulators have cleared Disney’s purchase of Lucasfilm, the Associated Press reports today. No formal closing date has been announced yet.
George Lucas receives $4.05 billion from Disney for the company, most of which he plans to donate to charity.
Disney’s Alan Horn on Lucasfilm, Episode VII
Vulture caught up with Disney chairman Alan Horn last night and, naturally, asked him about Lucasfilm and Star Wars. He revealed how many people knew about Episode VII: “A very small group,” He dodged the Matthew Vaughn rumor, though he did say we should hear it “soon” and that the announcement has to come from Kathleen Kennedy.
“We take very seriously the obligation to make a very good movie,” he told Vulture. “Kathy is a very experienced producer; George Lucas is the godfather of that franchise and very, very involved on a consulting basis, so we feel very confident.”