Disney acquires yet another popular franchise in tenacious deal

By Hugo Vera

On October 30, 2012, Disney and George Lucas agreed on the sale of Lucasarts, Lucasfilm Limited, and all of its affiliates to join the Disney family for $4.04 billion. With this deal, Disney now controls all of Lucas’s trademarks, which include megahit film franchises such as Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and American Graffiti. In addition, Disney plans to capitalize on this sale by releasing a potential Star Wars: Episodes VII, VIII, & IX. This would form a third Star Wars trilogy, since the last film was released in 2005. The Star Wars saga has been the main commercial foothold of Lucas, with the six films grossing over $3 billion, and thus creating other popular television shows, toys, video games, and apparel.

“It’s now time for me to pass on Star Wars to a new generation of filmmakers,” said George Lucas when the Associated Press interviewed him. “I am glad that I was able to make this transaction in my lifetime.”

The Star Wars and Indiana Jones films are not the only major trademarks that have been bought by Disney. In August 2009, Disney also acquired the Marvel Comics franchise from creator Stan Lee for $4 billion. This move gave Disney control of other films such as X-Men, Spider-Man, and most recently The Avengers, which was primarily financed by Disney.

Disney also owns other billion-dollar Medias such as ESPN, Pixar, and all of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC). These large purchases have often raised new controversy that the Walt Disney Company may be trying to form its own entertainment monopoly. No matter how you view it, most people can agree that Disney is indeed determined to dominate the industry of entertainment.