11 Years Ago Today, Disney Bought Lucasfilm For $4.05 Billion – But Has It Been A Success?

generalize

• Disney’s acquisitions of Lucasfilm, Pixar, and Marvel transformed the company, with Star Wars and the Marvel Universe becoming its most important franchises.
• The Star Wars sequel trilogy got off to a strong start, but lacked an overarching vision, leading to controversy and a decline in popularity.
• The “Star Wars” anthology films had mixed results, with “Rogue One” succeeding and “Solo” failing, leading to the anthology project being discontinued. However, Disney’s streaming service Disney+ has given Star Wars content a new home, and it’s been a success so far.

11 years ago today, Disney acquired Lucasfilm – including Star Wars, indiana jonesand willow. Disney is known for a series of dramatic acquisitions under CEO Bob Iger. Disney acquired Pixar in 2006, Marvel in 2010, and Lucasfilm in 2012. Each of these acquisitions proved transformative for House of Mouse, albeit in very different ways.microcontroller and Star Wars have gradually become two of Disney’s most important franchises.

According to Egger’s description in his autobiography The journey of a lifetime, it was through the intervention of Steve Jobs (who was now suffering from terminal cancer) that Iger reached out to George Lucas. Alarmed by the idea of ​​securing his legacy by selling ownership of Lucasfilm to Disney, Lucas himself chose his successor – Kathleen Kennedy. Her appointment came as a surprise to Disney, but Iger understood it was important to have someone Lucas trusted take charge.The deal was officially announced on October 30, 2012, with Lucasfilm and Disney also announcing Star Wars The sequel trilogy.It ushered in a monumental decade for enthusiasts Star Wars Especially, but Lucasfilm did have only limited success.

star wars sequel trilogy

A great start lacking an overall vision.

Lucasfilm announced Star Wars The sequel trilogy was launched 11 years ago today, and work on them began immediately. Lucas wrote the draft himself—perhaps in part to increase Lucasfilm’s purchase value—but the studio chose to go its own way. Drama by J.J. Abrams Star Wars: The Force Awakens Choose to hone in on nostalgia and try to recreate the tone and style of the past Star Wars Original trilogy.While Iger specifically defended this creative vision, the use of nostalgia made the sequel feel minimalist and posed a challenge for Rian Johnson Star Wars: The Last Jedi. His attempts at transformation proved controversial.

this Star Wars The sequel trilogy brought financial success to Disney. After adjusting for inflation, Star Wars: The Force Awakens Total revenue exceeded $2.6 billion, Star Wars: The Last Jedi an impressive $1.6 billion, and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker More than $1.2 billion. Given that the first of these films were bona fide cinematic events, the drop in returns was to be expected, and the drop in popularity and critical reception suggested that Lucasfilm had made a lot of mistakes. the last jedi The fan base was divided and Lucasfilm overcompensated in order to complete the trilogy.it’s no coincidence The rise of skywalker Released in 2019 and with a hiatus Star Wars The movie from then on is only now starting to wrap up.

Star Wars anthology movies falter

It looked like Star Wars was going to fail after all.

It’s important to remember that when Disney purchased Lucasfilm, the studio wasn’t really fully functional. This is why Lucas didn’t get the “Pixar deal” he originally wanted; “Lucas had many talented employees, especially on the technical side, but no director other than George and no film development or production pipeline,” explained Iger. This made for an impressive production speed, but unfortunately behind-the-scenes drama became standard. It had a huge impact on the sequels, although the same was true for the sequels. Star Wars Anthology projects, films designed to run around major films. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Still, the film was a hit, grossing $1.3 billion at the box office, adjusted for inflation.

Solo: A Star Wars Story However, this is a complete mess. solo was greenlit for a scene; co-screenwriter Jonathan Kasdan remembers pitching the moment Han was given his last name. Lucasfilm originally hired Phil Lord and Chris Miller to direct, but their approach didn’t work and things became increasingly confusing. Ron Howard was tasked with picking up the pieces, and he did a great job. But these were sealed due to a lack of strong hooks, constant production issues, and poor marketing strategies. solofate.Disney seems to believe Star Wars Never fails, they are proven wrong solo bombing. The entire anthology project was abandoned.

Disney+ becomes Star Wars’ new home…for now

That’s it.

Lucasfilm seemed to be losing faith in the big screen, but luckily that coincided with a new opportunity. Disney’s push into streaming means each of their studios is now tasked with producing content for Disney+ and the first live-action TV show – The Mandalorian – Becoming the flagship of the streaming service. It was an absolute success, largely due to a smart decision. Lucasfilm and Disney chose to pass up the initial merchandising opportunity for the lovable Grogu (originally dubbed “Baby Yoda”), allowing his appearance to be a surprise to audiences.

This has resulted in a steady stream of Star Wars Content on Disney+, both live-action and animated.There was a real-life incident; Hayden Christensen and Ewan McGregor return Obi-Wan Kenobi On the TV show, Christensen stars alongside Rosario Dawson’s live-action Anakin’s Padawan Ahsoka, and even features some unexpected Mark Hamill cameos.There are also welcome signs that Lucasfilm, a critical darling, is finally shaking off nostalgia Andor unlike any other Star Wars adventures so far, while future shows will move into the High Republic era. Of course, that’s not to say everything is perfect. There were some serious issues with VFX, mostly due to overreliance on ILM’s Volume technology.

Lucasfilm is clearly going the extra mile, with George Lucas protégé Dave Filoni using The Mandalorian Serving as a launchpad for the entire series and even the movie five years later Return of the Jedi. Inspired by the popular Expanded Universe “Heir to the Empire” trilogy, the film stars Lars Mikkelsen as the live-action Grand Admiral Thrawn. Turning this arc appears to have caused some short-term damage – boba fett books and The Mandalorian Season 3 feels like a course correction for the narrative—but AhsokaThe success shows that this is the right direction.

Lucasfilm’s other franchises in trouble

Indiana Jones and Willow met a disappointing fate.

look away Star WarsLucasfilm’s other projects have struggled in large part because of their budgets. Indiana Jones and the Wheel of Destiny The film had a budget of over $300 million but a global box office of less than $400 million, making Harrison Ford’s return a box office bomb.this willow The fantasy series suffered a heartbreaking fate, being pulled from Disney+ during the writers’ strike; writer John Bickerstaff insisted that was the real reason and not a tax write-off. “This business has become absolutely cutthroat;” he sadly tweeted.

Did Disney acquire Lucasfilm successfully?

Looking back, it’s clear that the past 11 years have been difficult for Disney and Lucasfilm. There were many high points; considering total box office receipts and cross-media expansion, it’s impossible to consider this era a failure. Star Wars. But these successes are by no means unconditional, and the overall picture is that the studio is struggling to find its footing and decide on strategic direction.However, there are signs that everything is starting to change, as Lucasfilm has announced three upcoming films Star Wars The movies at Star Wars Celebration 2023 have the potential to take the franchise in some bold new directions. Hopefully the next 11 years won’t be as controversial and the hits will be better.