If you are like me, your Twitter feed exploded yesterday
with the news that the Walt Disney Company had purchased Lucasfilm, including
the Star Wars universe, Industrial Light and Magic and Skywalker Sound. Indiana Jones is also included, but was not
figured into the deal because the rights are still entangled with Paramount . At $4 billion, it was not a cheap
purchase. So what does it all mean?
Dollars and Cents
Was it a good financial move for Disney? Well, let’s look at the numbers. There is no doubt that this purchase will
actually save Disney some money over the next few years. That licensing fee that they pay for Star
Tours and Star Wars Weekends? That’s
probably over. The money that they spend
getting special effects done at ILM or sound at Skywalker Sound? Definitely
reduced. No way to know for sure, but
that probably saves Disney a good amount.
Then there’s the big money – content. The rumored Star Wars live action show that
Lucas was working on that most figured would end up on ABC? Well, Disney no longer has to pay for that,
they can just have Lucasfilm produce it and start selling ads. The Clone Wars
cartoons on Cartoon Network? Will those
move to Disney XD? Probably not soon,
but it’s not implausible. The increase
in ad revenues from those two properties to the Disney networks could be very
big.
But the biggest part of the announcement was the idea that
Star Wars Episode 7, 8 and 9 will be coming soon, beginning in 2015. If you look at the box office figures for the
last three Star Wars films (Episodes I-III), they made over $1 billion between
them. Presuming Disney actually does as
they say they will and release the next three films, that means a minimum of
$1.5 billion in inflation adjusted dollars if the films perform as the last
three did. Add it all up, and you’re
looking at coming close to the $4 billion purchase price in around 10-15
years. That’s a good move.
The Walt Disney Studios
What does yesterday’s announcement mean for the fate of the
Disney studio? At this point, Studios
chairman Alan Horn is basically presiding over several fiefdoms within the
Studio structure. There’s John Lasseter
running Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios, with two or three films a year
coming between the two entities. Then
there’s Kevin Feige and the Marvel team, who are releasing two films a year for
the foreseeable future. Then there is
Jerry Bruckheimer, who will continue to produce Pirates/Lone Ranger/National
Treasure films as long as Disney will let him.
Add all of those together and you see a slate of five or six films every
year before Walt Disney Pictures really gets anything going.
Now add Lucasfilm putting out a Star Wars film every three
years. Doesn’t leave a whole lot of room
for original films, does it? Right now,
Disney’s slate outside of the big four entities listed above is mainly
re-hashing old turf: Malificient, Saving
Mr. Banks, Oz the Great and Powerful are all revisiting older Disney films or
ideas. So the complaint that Disney is
no longer a factory for original, live action content is kind of a lost cause
anyway. As much as I wish it wasn’t the
case, Tron Legacy did not perform to expectations, and neither did John
Carter. Both were good, not great films
that audiences tuned out. Name the last
Disney live action film that performed well at the box office and was a
completely original idea. I’ll
wait. A case can be made that Enchanted
was the last one, and that’s still drawing from Disney’s past. Beyond that, you have to look WAY back to the
Narnia films, and perhaps even The Santa Clause. I’m not saying Disney doesn’t make good live
action films (I quite enjoyed The Odd Life of Timothy Green) but the public is
not responding to them. This move keeps
them in the mode of churning out franchise product and relying on Pixar/WDAS to
create the new properties.
The Creative End
The real key to this whole deal is Star Wars Episode
VII. Don’t let anyone tell you
differently. Yes, many of us geeks
disliked the prequels, but audiences responded to them. My son likes Anakin Skywalker more than
Luke. The next generation of kids will
respond to the heroes of Episodes VII-IX.
But only if the movie gets it right.
The biggest decision from Disney/Lucasfilm is who will write and direct
this film.
Within their “walls” Disney now has two of the best story
people in Hollywood
in Lasseter and Marvel’s Joss Whedon.
Both understand the importance of story first. Sure, Lasseter and the
Pixar brain trust were not able to save Tron Legacy completely, but they sure
improved it based on what you read about the film. Between Disney’s existing
talent and the allure of Star Wars, they should be able to get whomever they
desire to work on the film. And that is
the key decision.
Outside of the films, the mind boggles at the possibilities. I already mentioned the live action show that
Lucas has been working on for several years.
The Clone Wars TV show is well into its run, but who’s to say it couldn’t
go on for a while longer and move over to Disney XD. If the new Star Tours is any indication, the
Imagineers are clearly drooling over the opportunities to include new Star Wars
attractions at the parks. Personally, I
am looking forward to a cold beverage at Mos Eisley Cantina in the future.
The End Result
Based on all of this, Disney made a very shrewd move. When Iger took over the company, they had
great success with the Princess brand and somewhat with the Cars brand on the
merchandise side. Since then, he’s
brought Pixar into the fold, giving Disney access to the Toy Story characters
as well as the Incredibles. He’s bought
Marvel, bringing the Avengers and (hopefully) eventually the X-Men into the
parks and movie theatres. Now with Star
Wars, Disney is a complete content company with the best loved brands by young
boys AND young girls. They have toddler
programming, world class attractions, the best movies and an unmatched
merchandise program. Think of this: the
next time you go into a Target or Walmart, Disney now owns at least two entire
aisles in the toy department. That alone
makes this a huge move, but the possibilities to come are endless. I can’t wait to see what happens.