Disney buying ‘Star Wars’ maker Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion from George Lucas

[thalaw2]

Let's look at it from the grander view.  George Lucas is a household name but he will never reach the heights of Walt Disney.  Disney probably forced him to play ball and 4.05billion is a nice sum of money for him to bow out.  It will take care of him for generations.  However, it does not even put a dent in the pocket  of the wealth of the WD family.  The real question is why didn't GL sale to Disney sooner?  His accountants and other number crunchers met with Disney's bean counters and they reached a deal.  There probably wasn't enough money available in the current world economy to close the deal.  Who knows what they had to go through to make this deal work.....After all the world is operating on less than 50% of the actual wealth out there. 

Anyway, Georgy got the deal he was looking for.  He's gonna bow out (deservedly) and retire to some place where he can eat vegetarian and shoot HGH.   

[Talavar]

Let's look at it from the grander view.  George Lucas is a household name but he will never reach the heights of Walt Disney.  Disney probably forced him to play ball and 4.05billion is a nice sum of money for him to bow out.  It will take care of him for generations.  However, it does not even put a dent in the pocket  of the wealth of the WD family.  The real question is why didn't GL sale to Disney sooner?  His accountants and other number crunchers met with Disney's bean counters and they reached a deal.  There probably wasn't enough money available in the current world economy to close the deal.  Who knows what they had to go through to make this deal work.....After all the world is operating on less than 50% of the actual wealth out there. 

Anyway, Georgy got the deal he was looking for.  He's gonna bow out (deservedly) and retire to some place where he can eat vegetarian and shoot HGH.

Sorry - how could Disney force him to play ball?  George owned the controlling interest in Lucasfilm; this was hardly a hostile takeover.  I personally think Lucas lost his passion for filmmaking and Star Wars in particular years ago.  All through the development of the prequels, the only thing that seemed to animate him was the development of new digital technology, not the characters or story.

Also, the Disney company hasn't been the Disney family in some time - the last member to be actively involved in the company, Roy E. Disney, died several years ago.  He himself  owned 1% of the company's stock - worth a fortune, to be sure, but hardly a controlling interest - and his estate was estimated at about 1.2 billion dollars (Lucas' own estate, before this sale, was estimated at 3.3 billion - time to add a couple more billion).  This isn't the story of a wealthy family buying out a creative man, but an extremely wealthy man selling his intellectual property to a vast multimedia conglomerate.

As to the last point - about their not being enough money in the world, well the terms of the deal are public knowledge.  Half is being paid in cash, and half in Disney stock.  That has made Lucas one of the largest single stockholders of the Disney corporation, just behind the estate of Steve Jobs.

[Shogunn2517]

Doesn't this automatically qualify him for Sainthood?  Or something?

[Talavar]

It's very generous for sure, but let's not overstate things - even before this deal he was a multi-billionaire, so it's not like he's going to be living in poverty now.

[BWPS]

It's very generous for sure, but let's not overstate things - even before this deal he was a multi-billionaire, so it's not like he's going to be living in poverty now.

Dude, seriously? Who is a more generous person? It's FOUR BILLION WITH A B DOLLARS. The percentage vs. quantity thing only matters for the giver's personal sacrifice, which while that has value, is meaningless to actual good done in the world. Which FOUR BILLION DOLLARS to education certainly ranks pretty high.

[Tomato]

Assuming you're actually serious (which is a large stretch, admittedly) No one is saying that the money isn't better spent in charity: Tavalar is saying that doing this one thing doesn't make Lucas the patron saint of charity. He's doing a great thing, but it's not like he's giving away all his possessions and living on the streets of new york. George Lucas will live comfortably for the rest of his life and never want for anything, even without the four billion.

[BWPS]

Oh I see. Charity, the act of giving to a good cause, is now measured not by how much it helps people, but by how much it HURTS the person giving?   I have this conversation WAY too often, and it's unbelievable to me. Who has given more? How does him still having some money make his worth any less?

[Tomato]

Ugh... no one is saying that Lucas hasn't done a really, really amazing thing here BWPS. He has. There are hundreds of rich people who wouldn't donate half that for anything except as a tax write-off, and George Lucas deserves all the praise he gets for doing it.

That said, we shouldn't take appreciation for that action to absurd levels, like nominating him for sainthood and crap. He could put ten times that amount into education and STILL not want for anything for the rest of his life. I don't think LESS of him for not having done so, because he legitimately earned his money (he gambled most of his money to tell a story that millions of people have enjoyed, and created a company that has reshaped film as we know it), but I'm not going to bow down and worship the man because he decided he didn't need 4 billion dollars.

He did a great thing. Good for him. Moving on.

[Talavar]

Assuming you're actually serious (which is a large stretch, admittedly) No one is saying that the money isn't better spent in charity: Tavalar is saying that doing this one thing doesn't make Lucas the patron saint of charity. He's doing a great thing, but it's not like he's giving away all his possessions and living on the streets of new york. George Lucas will live comfortably for the rest of his life and never want for anything, even without the four billion.

Exactly - I was responding to the statement that this qualifies him for sainthood.  Saints are people who gave up everything they owned and went and worked with lepers or something.  This is an extremely generous act by a man who can afford to be.

[BWPS]

I read what you guys are saying as trying to take him down a peg, and if that's not the case, good.

Just wanted everyone to know I've got my own religion now, and George Lucas is our Patron Saint of Charity and Star Wars, both of which are integral parts to my faith.

[Reepicheep]

Call it a publicity stunt or whatever, I'm more than happy to bow down to Lucas for doing that. See it as this: He sold Star Wars for Charity. Thats a big deal.

[thalaw2]

Great move to donate to charity.  At least that is tax deductible.  And since he really doesn't need the extra money it's good not to be stuck with a tax bill for 4 billion dollars.  I hope the money gets used ASAP.

[Shogunn2517]

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/lucasfilm-unveils-new-plans-star-698973

I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.

[Podmark]

Not at all surprising, it's been all but confirmed for a long time now, and to be honest I think it's the right choice if Disney plans to create new movies.
I love the EU, lots of great characters and stories came from it. Hopefully the new version will live up to its predecessor.

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

There's nothing whatsoever surprising there, no would I have expected anything else.  Franchises like this have always ignored the licensed materials.  At least in this case, they are not ignoring it completely.  That statement says that they will try to keep everything consistent and will reserve the right to use elements from the EU but simply won't be beholden to it.  That makes perfect sense and is far more generous than most franchises, such as Star Trek, have been.

[BentonGrey]

I'll always wish that, instead of the prequels, we had just gotten adaptations of The Thrawn Trilogy.  Ahh, I can dream.   

Yeah, this isn't surprising, but it is rather bittersweet.

[Shogunn2517]

There's nothing whatsoever surprising there, no would I have expected anything else.  Franchises like this have always ignored the licensed materials.  At least in this case, they are not ignoring it completely.  That statement says that they will try to keep everything consistent and will reserve the right to use elements from the EU but simply won't be beholden to it.  That makes perfect sense and is far more generous than most franchises, such as Star Trek, have been.

That has pretty much been the path laid by other "canon" sources that was proceeded by EU sources.  Coruscant, Quinlan Vos, Nightsisters, Asajj Ventress, all came from the EU and eventually used in this ACTUAL canon.  The "Sequel" Trilogy itself is taking place not in the middle of a particular EU storyline so it's possible that it could have been written... but Chewbacca is alive so... /shrugs  Whaddaya gonna do.

Then again, the entire idea of the EU was to fit within whatever continunity established by Lucasfilms, which would often require bends, which has been acceptable, but then again, this is a different story.

[Reepicheep]

That seems fair, to be honest. The EU is so expansive that episode 7 would have no wriggle room for its own creativity with the characters if it were treated as canon.

I doubt die hard Star Wars fans will be too disappointed by the results, but we'd still better brace for a rage storm.

[Midnite]

Official Cast of Star Wars Episode VII

[Podmark]

Not really familiar with the new actors, except Andy Serkis and I'm quite curious who he'll be playing.

[MJB]

From Serkis' track record one would assume he will play a CGI character.

[Shogunn2517]

I'm pretty suprised at Max Von Syndow.  Ming the Merciless and a few other notable roles I'm familiar with.  He's a good actor.  He's an older classically trained actor.  Easily see him playing older teacher or a villain type even.

Adam Driver I'm familiar with from the few episodes of Girls I've seen.  It was a different role than he'd obviously play here, but I wouldn't doubt he couldn't do it.