Not really. Disney would make boatloads of cash off the movies whether the big Disneyland logo appeared at the start of the films or not. They can afford to contract with Fox to release them and keep the iconic 1977-2005 openings intact. Besides, I don't think George would have it any other way and would balk at any attempt to change them. He might not run the day to day operations of the franchise anymore but what he says about his creation will still have a lot of weight.
Re: Disney to Acquire Lucasfilm I said this in the Star Wars Episode 7 thread, but there's a brand-new article at the Official Star Wars Blog that reveals that plans to do the Sequel Trilogy have been 'in train' since the end of June, so this wasn't a decision that was made 'on-the-spot'. The announcement of Lucas selling Lucasfilm to the Disney Corporation happened to coincide with the official announcement of SW EP VII, but one didn't rise from the other.
Re: Disney to Acquire Lucasfilm What's shocking is the price. I though Lucasfilms was worth more than 4 billion. Disney bough Pixar for 7.2 Billion and Marvel for 4 billion. Unlike Jobs, George Lucas wasn't even offered a position on the board of Disney.
I am one who never believed Lucas retelling that he had never really planned nine movies. Back before Empire Strikes Back was released the number nine came up in news articles all the time, along with mention that the droids would be in every film. My guess is that Lucas has suddenly remembered his original plan and turned the outline over to Disney. Hamill is now the same age as Guinness during the original Star Wars, so it makes sense to do a movie set 40+ years after ROTJ with minor roles or cameos for the original cast. Can't wait to see what comes out of this.
^ agreed. The more recent "there were only ever 6" revisionism was laughable, it was contradicted by multiple statements from the past, including some official ones. I also love the idea of mark hammill as the ObiWan figure. Don't really need the rest of the OT cast. It'll all pretty much hinge on the creative talent they hire. It'll be great to see a SW movie with good dialogue and acting. Been a while.
SW franchise With the news of Disney making another feature film SW trilogy and more films in the future this thread seems obsolete since there will be more films now: What franchise has had the closest cultural impact since Star Wars?
I think this is cool news. It can't be any worse than the Prequel Trilogy. Disney has done a good job with Marvel so I think Star Wars is in good hands. It may be fanwanky as hell, but seeing Mark Hamill again as Luke playing an Old Ben type role would make a lot of people happy. Don't make the movie about him, but have him in a support role, guiding our new hero. Maybe give him a hero's death. He could always come back as a force ghost later!
IMO, they need to bring back Darth Vader. I don't care if he is resurrected by the dark side, rebooted, or some new dude in the Vader suit.
I think six movies about darth vader was enough. His story ended in return of the jedi. Bringing him back again would cheapen him. I wonder what kind of new threat will emerge Post ROTJ? I know nothing about EU and I hope the movie steers clear of being dependent on it.
These are Star wars fans we are talking about. Ridiculous to me and you isn't the same as it is to them. It's been 40 years, they can come up with a cool new intro.
Besides, if Hayden returns as Anakin's Force ghost then technically we'll still see Darth Vader in the new movies sans the black suit. And the Dark Side. I get the feeling that since George said the SW Saga was really the story of Anakin more than anybody else that we'll continue to see him in spirit form giving advice and wisdom to his son and daughter as they try to live and forge ahead in the post-Empire galaxy.
I don't buy that for a second. Vader is the biggest icon of Star Wars and the ultimate scifi villain. He and the droids are the only characters they need to bring back. Anakin Skywalker doesn't need to come back, Vader does. I don't care if we never even find out who is inside the suit. Bring back Vader and make him genuinely menacing.
Bingo. If Lucas and others insist on sticking with decades-old tradition, distributing the film through Fox and keeping the iconic 20th Century Fox logo and fanfare at the start of the new films then Disney won't lose a wink of sleep nor a dime over it. They don't suddenly stop owning or making money off of the franchise because they don't slap that Disneyland logo at the start of each film of the third Trilogy. Just because someone can come up with a cool new opening doesn't mean they have to, and knowing the control freak that Lucas is he'll likely make sure the films remain distributed through Fox if he and his inner circle at Lucasfilm have any say about their own creation.
Actually, it might be interesting to pursue this angle. Maybe as a force ghost, there is still something that he needs to do to bring balance to the force--maybe we still have not learned what the balance truly is. It would be very cool if this story were dependent upon aspects of each of the previous trilogies.
Maube we'll finally find out if different force ghosts can interact with each other. Anakin fights Yoda! bring it on!