When Disney first announced it had purchased Lucasfilm for a little over $4 billion yesterday, the chief concern on almost everyone’s mind was whether the new owner could finally produce new Star Wars movies that held up to the greatness of the original trilogy. A day later, however, some have begun focusing on the more practical concerns related to content Lucasfilm has already produced.
Thanks to a series of complicated business deals made by George Lucas back in the day, it seems Disney will acquire all worldwide media rights to the last five films in 2020. Unfortunately, Fox owns Star Wars: A New Hope permanently. As a result, the studio would either need to sell the film to Disney sometime in the future, or it would need to be a partner in any Star Wars complete sets in the future.
On paper, this isn’t more than a minor annoyance, but as someone who owns the badass, recently released James Bond Blu-ray set, I can tell you a company putting together a brilliant and stunning complete set is a huge bonus to fanatics. And believe it or not, there are more than a few crazy Star Wars fanatics out there.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, insiders say Lucas always wanted to keep the six movies together at Fox, but that desire was outweighed by all of the theme parks and additional opportunities a company like Disney could offer. In the end, he supposedly didn’t even give Fox a real chance to bid on the property.
If you’re pumped about the possibility of Disney blowing your mind with new Star Wars movies, this minor speed bump shouldn’t lessen your excitement about the overall positives. More than a decade from now when Disney puts out an ultimate box set featuring eight of the nine films, however, feel free to groan really loudly.
Here’s to hoping Fox plays ball and sells the damn movie in 2020. They belong together, even the shitty ones.
