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Disney to Acquire Lucasfilm Ltd.
- joshmlewis 14y ago$4 Billion and it's 100% owned by George Lucas. Does anyone know if that 100% is literal? That he didn't give away ANYTHING, even for a pool for employees?
- antr 14y agoIn the press statement they say it is $4 billion "transaction value", which tends to translate to enterprise value (not equity). So that $4bn number might be equity + net debt + any other provisions, etc.
- ChuckMcM 14y ago" the transaction value is $4.05 billion, with Disney paying approximately half of the consideration in cash and issuing approximately 40 million shares at closing." Half of it is cash, that is $2.025B. Represents an a pretty healthy chunk of cash on top of the $2B in Disney stock. It will be interesting to see what he does next.
- marshallp 14y agoHopefully he invests in immortality research. The trend of billionaires dying without even trying to engineer a solution is retarded. He should start with focus ultrasound. It allows to grow/shrink any part of the body and so essentially reach immortality.
- stevewillows 14y agoThere's that carbonite process he looked into a long time ago.
- richardkmichael 14y agoNot sure it's applicable, it was in a galaxy far, far away.
- inDigiNeous 14y agoHave you heard of Satanism ? Look it up. Has to do with this .. achieving immortality .. and sucking blood (energy) out of other people. Oh yeah, it's real, black magic hasn't gone anywhere. Where do you think the ritual sacrifices would have disappeared ?
- jlgreco 14y agoActually, most Satanism has nothing to do with that.
- esurc 14y agoThe 100% ownership is literal. From the press release: "The agreement has been approved by the sole shareholder of Lucasfilm."
- esurc 14y agoI suppose that, in theory, he could have given away non-voting shares to some of his employees over time. But then I would have expected the press release to specify that he was the sole voting shareholder, rather than "the sole shareholder."
- pmjordan 14y agoI don't really know much about the movie business, but my understanding is that new companies are incorporated for each individual movie project. The investors (of cash, franchise IP, or time) receive shares in that movie's corporation. Presumably the profits are then paid out as dividends, or the company is dissolved, and assets are distributed. That would explain why George Lucas never suffered any dilution on Lucasfilm, which presumably is just a shell whose main purpose is ownership of the various franchises and holding shares in the various sub-companies.
- butterfi 14y agoThe whole shebang is owned by GWL. I once heard George say that he had no interest in going public. He wanted his companies to work on his projects before anything else, which cause a lot of grief at ILM some years ago.
- alexmr 14y agoDoes anyone know what the largest modern transaction for a sole-owned company is?
- philwelch 14y agoMovie studios aren't like startups.
- dsl 14y agoLucasfilm was essentially a holding company, so it's not unreasonable for him to own 100% of it. I don't believe the subsidiaries (Skywalker Sound, LucasArts, ILM, etc) are wholly owned by Lucasfilms.
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- robbiet480 14y agoThis means that Disney now controls Marvel, Pixar, LucasArts, ABC, ESPN, A+E, Disney Channel plus all their own original content and of course the parks and merchandising rights for everything stated above. Those businesses most likely control the top 10 film franchises of the last few years. This is a pretty insane acquisition.
- 001sky 14y agoKeeps Apple out, too.
- kemiller 14y agoHow does it do that? Disney has had a reasonably friendly relationship with Apple due to Steve's presence on both boards. Now that he's gone that might weaken, but he had a long time to win hearts and minds over there.
- 001sky 14y agoSimple: Because the strategy is to keep Apple out of the content biz, as owners. It keeps Apple as a customer, while the TV/Cable's themselves vertically integrate. This sets up the Tv/Cable-co's to to extract rents. Now Disney <controls> a Pixar, Lucas ESPN, et al; Comcast <controls> Universal & NBC. This Apple TV?...etc.
- Steko 14y agoI seriously doubt that Apple wants to be in the content biz any more than they already are with their first party apps. I'd guess Steve was fairly cognizant of the fact that the decline of Sony was directly related to their media acquisitions in the late 80's. When the media people get seats at the big table you develop an institutional hostility to the sorts of disruptive devices that Apple wants to build and Sony used to. Instead you get things like Ultraviolet, rootkits and the George Hotz fiasco.
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- robbiet480 14y agoStar Wars Episode 7 will come out in 2015. They also acquired all of the assets including Indiana Jones, Star Wars, ILM, LucasArts and Skywalker Sound
- antr 14y agoI'm no media/film expert, but this sounds like a great acquisition for Disney. The current library/brands and Disney's distribution can squeeze any cash left from past movies/brands. Going forward this can be a true money-printing machine. Lets just hope they acknowledge the internet is the retail distribution channel of today. Also, funny how life works. Pixar, a spin-off of Lucasfilm back in the 90's "acquires" Lucasfilm. Am I right in saying that Disney's movie division is headed/managed by the Pixar guys?
- stcredzero 14y agoWhat about a Pixar animated Star Wars movie?
- antr 14y agoi get goosebumps just thinking of it
- rsync 14y ago1. Get off my lawn 2. Die in a Fire
- stcredzero 14y ago> 1. Get off my lawn Hey that's my line. I've been coding for 32 years.
- eungyu 14y agoStar Story; Yuck
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- greedo 14y agoMaybe now we'll see a BluRay version of ANH where Han shoots first...
- nuclear_eclipse 14y agoA nice bit of irony, coming from you.
- greedo 14y agoI will miss the 20th Century Fox intro and fanfare. That still sends chills down my spine.
- sbarre 14y agoOh wow I never even though about that.. A Star Wars movie without the 20th Century Fox/Lucasfilm pre-roll just won't be the same...
- ryen 14y agoThey'll probably keep the LucasFilm roll there as it will still be their studio producing most of it. But what should really bother you is the Disney intro with Tinkerbell flying around. That's going to look highly inappropriate...
- greedo 14y agoAh, looks like I was premature. Fox will still own the distro rights to the first six films.
- rsync 14y agoYou'll get nothing and like it.
- lwat 14y agoBest I can do is some more CGI aliens in the background.
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- ROFISH 14y ago> I’ve always believed that Star Wars could live beyond me, and I thought it was important to set up the transition during my lifetime. This is effectively Lucas' slow decent into retirement; he's not actively directing Episode 7 but instead consulting. Say what you want about the movies and franchises, ILM and Skywalker Sound are gold standards created by a tech visionary.
- mchanson 14y agoI didn't know there was an episode 7 in the works...
- robbiet480 14y agoThey just announced it as part of the acquisition as per my comment below
- robterrell 14y agoIt's buried in the press release. Episode 7 in 2015.
- jwarzech 14y agoEven more shocking: "That will be followed by Episodes 8 and 9 – and our long term plan is to release a new Star Wars feature film every two to three years"
- brudgers 14y agoStar Wars has long been envisioned as three trilogies. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_sequel_trilogy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_sequel_trilogy Yes, I'm a bit of a nerd. Please don't get me started on Star Trek.
- jwarzech 14y agoWasn't the lore of Lucas having the entire series 'practically written/envisioned' debunked after people saw how the 'new' trilogy turned out? (ex. metachlorian)
- psycho 14y agoWow, got gooseflesh on reading this news.
- padobson 14y agoDisney paid $4B for Lucasfilm. Six years ago, they paid $7B for Pixar.[1] Pixar used to be a subsidiary of Lucasfilm. This means that John Lasseter is now going to have control of all of the assets that allowed him to get into making movies in the first place. [1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixar#Acquisition_by_Disney http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixar#Acquisition_by_Disney
- edgesrazor 14y agoLet's not forget they paid that 7 billion in 2006. I can almost see this as Disney trying to replace the eye for talent and negotiating power they lost in Steve Jobs' passing, along with an amazing IP acquisition. Edit: Thought of better terms than "creative force".
- bonzoesc 14y agoSteve Jobs wasn't ever really a "creative force" at Disney.
- edgesrazor 14y agoProbably the wrong choice of words. He did help bring in a lot of creative people, however. I'm just wondering if this will follow the same line of thinking - there's quite a lot of talented people who work for the Lucas properties.
- FireBeyond 14y agoDo you think so? To my mind, the set of people in that industry, as creatives, who would think "Hmm, I dunno. I'm not really sold / excited about the idea of working for Disney / Pixar / Lucasfilm... Oh, Steve Jobs is involved? That changes ... everything." (sorry, couldn't resist). These companies appear, at least to me, as the pinnacle of "career as a creative artist in film" employers - I doubt the personality of a board member / part-owner, even one with as much going for him as Jobs did, was ever the deciding factor in their ability to lure talent.
- tobiasbischoff 14y agoGeorge lucas sells Pixar to Jobs. He sells it to Disney and becomes largest single shareholder. Jobs fam now owns a part of Lucasfilm. Crazy.
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- demione 14y agoWonder if they'll get a seasoned director for Star Wars 7, or if they'll go with a controllable newcomer like Sony did with Amazing Spider Man.
- m_d 14y agoAs much as the idea of Ep. 7 pains me, I wouldn't mind seeing Brad Bird direct it. He took another classic franchise that I had grown to hate (Mission: Impossible), and made it fun again. He also has close ties to Disney/Pixar.
- macspoofing 14y agoI thought M:I Ghost Protocol was pretty mediocre. To each his own.
- MartinCron 14y agoM:I Ghost Protocol was probably the most cartoonish thing that Brad Bird has done. I recently re-watched The Incredibles and... yeah, I can totally see him making a redemptive Episode VII.
- eropple 14y agoJoss Whedon has been known to take home from the Disney offices large sacks with big green dollar signs printed upon them.
- MartinCron 14y agoI'm afraid to even let myself think that.
- speedyrev 14y agoJar Jar Disney Christmas
- illuminate 14y agoHey, it's happened before. http://www.rifftrax.com/rifftrax/star-wars-holiday-special http://www.rifftrax.com/rifftrax/star-wars-holiday-special
- mariusmg 14y agoIt means they bought LucasArts too. Not that LucasArts were great in the last decade or so but Disney sucks as a "parent" for game dev companies (RIP Blackrock).
- Lewisham 14y agoLucasArts hasn't existed in any real capacity for the last five years or so anyway, they've just been a licensing house. At least under Disney there is the possibility of finding some talent (unlikely, but possible).
- InclinedPlane 14y agoMaybe. The problem is that Disney has so many parts of the company that are highly profitable (Marvel cinematic, Pixar, Disney proper, their many other movie studios, and now Lucasfilm) that it can be comparatively difficult to direct resources at smaller efforts. This is a problem at big companies like Microsoft and Google as well. Something that might flourish if it were let loose as an independent startup can easily languish at a company that has bigger fish to fry.
- rsync 14y agoOn the other hand, a pixar-enhanced reboot of DOTT ... now you're talking ...
- MartinCron 14y agoOr Grim-Fandango HD for iOS. A man can dream, right?
- zachinglis 14y agoGrim was amazing. Currently replaying, but Full Throttle was where it was at.
- MartinCron 14y ago
- jemeshsu 14y agoThis must have something to do with the upcoming Angry Birds Star Wars.
- unwiredben 14y agoThree words that scare me: "Disney's Star Wars" (for context, note that they've been explicitly tagging their name on all their kids fare, especially stuff based on public domain or historical sources)
- afterburner 14y agoHow about "Disney's Indiana Jones"
- bobwise 14y agoLike with "Disney's The Avengers"?
- ISL 14y agoPerhaps now, Han can go back to shooting first?
- Uchikoma 14y agoJar Jar Binks and Donald Duck. How fitting.
- jamesjguthrie 14y agoAwesome, Episode 7. Think I might watch 5 and 6 again soon.
- xvolter 14y agoI think the point is that Disney will be behind the movies now. As a fan, I am more in fear of horrible, time wasting movies, Disney is known for making sequels to just try and make some extra money out of a series. Star Wars is a jackpot for that. While some more honorable fans will not see the movies, most fans will regardless because they have to at least see the new movies otherwise they wouldn't be fans anymore.
- jamesjguthrie 14y agoI'm hopeful that through Disney the series will get an awesome reboot. Look how good the Marvel Comics movies have been since the Disney acquisition in 2009. (Iron Man 2, Captain America, The Avengers all awesome)
- brudgers 14y agoFor those fretting the future, it will be hard for Disney to fuck up the franchise more than Lucas did with The Phantom Menace. http://redlettermedia.com/plinkett/star-wars/star-wars-episode-1-the-phantom-menace/ http://redlettermedia.com/plinkett/star-wars/star-wars-episo...
- stcredzero 14y agoHow about a reboot of episodes 1-3?
- saraid216 14y agoI'm feeling "too soon" on that.
- stcredzero 14y agoHow about "not soon enough?"
- leeskye 14y agoHope they chose an awesome director for episode 7: http://www.businessinsider.com/five-directors-disney-should-ask-to-make-star-wars-episode-7-2012-10 http://www.businessinsider.com/five-directors-disney-should-...
- MartinCron 14y agoThat's a great list. Although I think that Brad Bird would be a natural choice as well.
- CoachRufus87 14y agoMonopoly?
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- singalongwithme 14y agoTo this I say: http://nooooooooooooooo.com/ http://nooooooooooooooo.com/
- chiph 14y agoWhen to cash-out, a Jedi knows.
- Altair3 14y agoHacker News — Reddit
- apgwoz 14y agoAll I wanna know is whether or not Lucas signed first.
- snikch 14y agoI have a bad feeling about this.
- AutoCorrect 14y agoMonopoly & Anti-Trust concerns, anyone?
- pla3rhat3r 14y agoIf it were some other industry other than movies I would be concerned. Disney is building themselves up to be a competitor to Universal.
- kappaknight 14y ago...for the price of 4 Instagrams.
- stevewilhelm 14y agoA Donald and Howard buddy flick can now be finally realized. Well worth four billion ducks.
- beebs93 14y agoWow, flannel George..really? I hope he's wearing flip-flops, too ;)
- talmand 14y agoAll I want to know is if this means the possibility of a Tie Fighter remake from LucasArts.
- mixmastamyk 14y agoWow, didn't see it coming, but this old comic comes to mind: http://www.condenaststore.com/-sp/The-Final-Merger-New-Yorker-Cartoon-Prints_i8479117_.htm http://www.condenaststore.com/-sp/The-Final-Merger-New-Yorke... On the scripting-side, this should create one of the bigger if not biggest Python house(s). Disney was converting to it when I left (many years ago) and ILM is a known proponent... their whole pipeline from front to back is accessible from it. Episode 7? First I've heard of it. crosses fingers.
- OWaz 14y agoI'd be happy if Disney released LucasArts games on some distribution platform. Being able to own those games without having to resort to torrents would be great.
- ekianjo 14y agoRobot Chicken was right. We ARE going to get Star Wars Musicals. Oh Dear.
- cincinnatus 14y agoAlready happened in Japan.
- ekianjo 14y agoWhere/when ? I'd be curious to see something about that :)
- pla3rhat3r 14y agoAwesome! Finally a way to mash my two favorite things, musical numbers and Star Wars!
- bhanks 14y agoAre they really going to be making other star wars movies?
- MrFoof 14y agoThis now means that Princess Leia is a Disney Princess.
- kruk 14y agoIt's hard to understand body language without knowing the person well but on all pictures I've seen it looks like Lucas's left hand is trying to stop his right hand from signing the contract. It would seem he might have been hesitant about the deal.
- Zenst 14y agoI would of thought more people on this planet know more about star wars than they do facebook. Yet Facebook valued at 100bn (initialy) and Lucasfilm valued at 4bn and like many people the response was thats low. Lets look at it another way - do a google search for star wars and then facebook and notice the number of results: star wars: About 420,000,000 results (0.21 seconds) facebook: About 20,570,000,000 results (0.17 seconds) Now if you get (100/fb results)* star wars results you get a value of around 2 So with that you could say if facebook was overvalued at twice its value then you can say that lucasfilm is worth 4bn, or at least argue that as a price. Personaly I would of thought that had Lucasfilm ran a share sale, then the value would of been alot more, just from fans collecting a share certificate for there star wars collection alone. Now they can own a Disney share and feel all dirty I suppose somehow. Either way when you sell a company directly, I tend to see low ball prices in consumer valuations of the company. Now if you sell it as shares or are flavour of the month and can get silly offers, the prices seems to be over consumer valuations. Though even after this news, the share price has not changed much and still values Disney at around 90bn.
- msprague 14y agoSince when does popularity substantially determine share valuation?
- Zenst 14y agoSupply and demand and fashion have there cross overs. RIM share price has certainly been influenced by public opinion, depite some good sales/figures at times that counter the drops. Self forfilling prophecy that one. Facebook being another classic, share price based more upon popularity. New startups all the time get snapped up on initial fashion popularity. Nothing is clear cut, should be but it is not. If some stars suddendly endorse a product does it make the product better, may help sales may not but the share price will rise before those sales based upon expectations. So in many ways popularity be it directly or indirectly effects all share price valuations, markets are so volatile by being so twitch dynamicly fast that it is more a direct factor upon share price than it was in years past.
- wslh 14y agoI want a remake of the first three episodes. They were a shame for fans. The best one was "the empire strikes back" and it was not directed by George Lucas.
- bcks 14y agoRise of the Planet of the Binks
- cjrandolph 14y agoWonder if this might have any effect on Google/Motorola's licensing of the Droid trademark from Lucasfilm?
- dllthomas 14y agoMakes good sense to me. Who knows more about milking overstretched and outdated IP?
- adis1_ch 14y agohope they don't lead STAR WARS the 'JOHN CARTER ' way. Let John Lasseter and the rest of PIXAR team handle LUCASFILMS