When I heard the news this afternoon, it was a little bit of a shock. How could something like that have happened? Then, after reading several different articles and finding out more information, it was something that I was willing to accept, even praise. If you have no clue what I am talking about, then you sadly don't know me at all.
Earlier today, The Walt Disney Company marched into George Lucas' office and offered him $4.05 BILLION for Lucasfilm Limited. As the sole shareholder, I'm sure George didn't have to contemplate the deal very long. Actually, I have a feeling that he's been thinking about it for at least the past year.
Before I get into my complete reaction and how I feel about the company moving forward, let me explain how I feel about George basically giving up his company. That is not what he did. In fact, he is basically retiring from the movie making business. And while he will still write stories and possibly move them into the script process, he will no longer be actively doing so.
I've known for quite some time (because, you know, George and I are close), that George wanted to retire. The movie that came out earlier this year, Red Tails, was a project that he had worked long and hard to complete and with it fulfilled, George had finally felt he was finished with making movies himself. Again, that doesn't mean he is not in the process of overseeing stories for The Clone Wars or other projects that might come down the pike in the future, such as the supposed Star Wars: Episode VII.
It's easy to see that George had been preparing for something like this. Whether it was the actual sale of Lucasfilm or not, he had prepared to leave the company. Earlier this year, Kathleen Kennedy (one of Steven Spielberg's producing partners) joined Lucasfilm as co-chairman, essentially setting her up to be the person in charge once George stepped down. With the sale nearly complete, it appears that George will be able to ride off into the sunset just as Indiana Jones did at the end of The Last Crusade.
So now that I've talked a little about George and his reasons, let's talk about the company in general. As I trolled the Internet today for information, I saw numerous people decrying the buyout stating that George had "fallen" to the Dark Side and that the evil Emperor had finally won. Yes, it is true, George Lucas was a visionary and a pioneer and an independent filmmaker. He was not beholden to any studio to tell him what he could and could not do and that was how he liked it. Unfortunately, because of his own independence, there were certain disadvantages as well.
As the sole shareholder or Lucasfilm, everything was on his shoulders from budgets, casting, directing, writing, producing and I'm sure everything in between. That much work can take a lot out of a person and now that he is a little bit older (I will never call him old), he deserves a chance to rest.
Some people on the Internet were happy because Star Wars could finally get a decent writer and filmmaker and give "the fans" what they wanted from the movies in the first place. It's still unknown what SWVII will entail, but whatever it will be, I'm still going to see it. I'm one of those crazy fans when it comes to Star Wars, but when it comes to the prequel movies (those that shall not be named by certain people), I actually liked them. Yes, the dialogue was stiff. The acting was not stellar from some of the cast and certain things happened that people weren't happy about. Remember, though, folks, as prequels, they had a lot to live up to. There was already a story involved and they had to create the history to which is referred in movies from twenty years previous. Yes, some things didn't work well but on a whole, in my opinion, they were good movies.
So that's Star Wars. Let's talk about the other things that Disney will receive as part of the deal. Behind door number two: only the best post-production facility in the world, Industrial Light and Magic. Sure, WETA Studio is out there and so are dozens of other small firms, but ILM still leads the pack when it comes to advancements of special effects technology. A lot of the tech that is being used by other companies was designed by ILM or by someone that used to work for ILM. Skywalker Sound, one of the best sound editing facilities for movies and television is also included.
Both of these companies work on many Disney films at the moment, such as Iron Man 3 and The Avengers, but now instead of having to pay a separate fee to use them, they are technically "in house" properties, which makes it easier to assign the assets.
When people ask me how this will help Lucasfilm in the long run, I can only say that it will make it better. Look at what Disney has done with Pixar. Yes, Pixar was a wonderful company before it was purchased by Disney, but look what happened after. They just got bigger. The same with Marvel Comics. Wasn't The Avengers the summer's biggest blockbuster with a chance for more as the individual sequel movies start coming out in the next couple of years?
Though Lucasfilm is a great organization and a great film company, they are still small and independent. The Walt Disney Company is large and multifaceted. Disney understands Global Marketing in a way that Lucasfilm is only able to scratch the surface. This deal is good for everyone. George Lucas gets to retire on his terms with the person he trusts to run the company and Lucasfilm will not have to worry about projects or income slowly fading away.
Good luck George, with whatever you choose to do from now on.
Until tomorrow.
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