Lucasfilm purchase puts a new 'Star Wars' film
alongside 'Avengers' sequel on Disney's 2015 calendar.
By Josh Wigler (@RoundHoward) 
The Walt Disney Company announced on Tuesday (October 30) their acquisition
of Lucasfilm Ltd., the production company behind George Lucas' epic "Star Wars"
series. The full extent of what the $4.05 billion deal will yield remains
unknown, but one project is already in the offing: "Star Wars Episode 7."
Little is known about the "Star Wars" sequel other than a 2015 release date —
the same year that Disney releases a different blockbuster-in-the-making, a sequel
to "Marvel's The Avengers." Lucas himself weighed in on the news in an
official statement released by Disney.
"For the past 35 years, one of my greatest pleasures has been to see Star
Wars passed from one generation to the next," he said. "It's now time for me to
pass Star Wars on to a new generation of filmmakers. 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. I'm confident that with Lucasfilm under the
leadership of Kathleen Kennedy, and having a new home within the Disney
organization, Star Wars will certainly live on and flourish for many generations
to come. Disney's reach and experience give Lucasfilm the opportunity to blaze
new trails in film, television, interactive media, theme parks, live
entertainment, and consumer products."
Disney's press release promises "more feature films expected to continue the
Star Wars saga and grow the franchise well into the future." Indeed, the company
already has designs on "Episode 8" and "Episode 9," with a new "Star Wars" movie
intended to hit theaters "every two to three years.
In joining the Disney brand, Lucasfilm now resides under the same house that
shelters Marvel and Pixar. How long until an animated "Star Wars" / "Avengers"
crossover, we wonder?
