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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Discussion The Disney - Lucasfilm Relationship & EpVII Decision Making

Discussion in 'Archive: Disney Era Films' started by GeneralCeel, Nov 3, 2012.

  1. GeneralCeel

    GeneralCeel Jedi Padawan star 2

    Registered:
    Nov 4, 2005
    To me it seems like there is a lot of fear and misunderstand out there about the nature of Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm and what that means as far as the creative decision making on Star Wars Episode 7.

    This matters in terms of speculation because depending on how you look at this relationship you might arrive at historically “Disney-ish” conclusion as opposed to formulating theories that better reflect the George Lucas model for storytelling.

    From Wikipedia in regards to another huge Disney acquisition: “On December 31, 2009, Disney acquired

    Marvel Entertainment, Inc. for $4.24 billion. Disney has stated that their acquisition of the company will not affect Marvel's products, neither will the nature of any Marvel characters be transformed”

    ^ this is in keeping with my position that Lucas "sold" Lucasfilm to protect his legacy, rather than risk seeing it changed. Lucasfilm film will likely be little changed, save for now having substantial Disney resources (TV stations, facilities, marketing and distribution) at its disposal. Lucas has bought into Disney to grow Lucasfilm and Star Wars for generations to come, not be rid of them, and I believe that Lucasfilm will operate much as it always has, except with Kathleen Kennedy making an increasing number of the decisions that once rest with Lucas himself.
    ....

    What do you think? What is the nature of the Disney - Lucasfilm relationship? Is Disney calling the shots? Are they going to strip mine the Lucas-empire for resources, plunder it to make money and leave it ruined?

    Is Episode VII going to be explicitly more "kid-oriented" than the original trilogy and Revenge of the Sith (with its PG-13 rating)? Or can we expect Star Wars VII to continue moving back in the darker direction some fans crave?
     
    Episode Swag likes this.
  2. yodasbum

    yodasbum Jedi Grand Master star 2

    Registered:
    Nov 4, 2004
    As you have said in my post and its something that seems to be missed. Lucas is Disney, he's his own boss. Whilst he may be retiring I would see that 2.5% and largest single shareholder (is the Steve Jobs estate a single shareholder?) if he decides that he doesn't like something then he can do something about it and they will have to listen to him.

    If any one is smart you make the best Star Wars film you can and the rest will look after itself. If the film is good/great it will go top 5 all time box office. If you start pandering to a demographic: Ewoks/fart jokes/Jar Jar (again not a judgment on those areas but I think clearly included/focused on for non story related reasons) then you wont make as much.
     
    WIERD_GREEN_MAN likes this.
  3. WIERD_GREEN_MAN

    WIERD_GREEN_MAN Jedi Knight star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 16, 2010
    Disney bought Lucasfilm and is going to make money from it. Not necessarily because they want to reach their hands into it and change it up drastically. Daily operations should be relatively okay - the profit's just going to Disney, not George Lucas. Disney has left Pixar and Marvel alone,
     
    TheMasterOfSoresu likes this.
  4. GeneralCeel

    GeneralCeel Jedi Padawan star 2

    Registered:
    Nov 4, 2005
    So Lucas' 2.5% stake in Disney isn't going to earn him money?
     
  5. WIERD_GREEN_MAN

    WIERD_GREEN_MAN Jedi Knight star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 16, 2010
    It is. But he's not the super boss-man anymore. That's my point.
     
  6. GeneralCeel

    GeneralCeel Jedi Padawan star 2

    Registered:
    Nov 4, 2005
    Who is?
     
  7. yodasbum

    yodasbum Jedi Grand Master star 2

    Registered:
    Nov 4, 2004
    More than ever!
     
  8. DarthMane2

    DarthMane2 Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Sep 20, 2003
    Look for LFL to have as much freedom as Marvel, but also look for Disney to be paying closer attentiong to what LFL does. They aren't going to risk another TPM. Regardless of your opinion of the film, it didn't meet expectations for a vast majority of people. Disney needs a quality movie here, that means a movie that most critics like, and movie that most of the audience will like. They aren't going to risk another Jaxxon or Jar Jar.

    LFL's only real quality franchises have been Star Wars and Indiana Jones. Everything else has been a box office failure. This isn't going to be like with Marvel where their movie franchise was already critically and commercially successful.
     
  9. ezekiel22x

    ezekiel22x Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Aug 9, 2002
    Burp joke Ewok Jedi made more than ESB. And ESB is so mature it makes Dostoyevsky novels look like the Smurfs.
     
    KED12345 and WIERD_GREEN_MAN like this.
  10. WIERD_GREEN_MAN

    WIERD_GREEN_MAN Jedi Knight star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 16, 2010
    Agree, but remember, at least Lucasfilm is culturally successful. Marvel's movies (not comics) do not occupy the same tier of pop-culture.
     
  11. GeneralCeel

    GeneralCeel Jedi Padawan star 2

    Registered:
    Nov 4, 2005
    The Phantom Menace made a billion dollars at the box office alone..... I think they'd love another TPM.
     
    The-Eternal-Hero likes this.
  12. WIERD_GREEN_MAN

    WIERD_GREEN_MAN Jedi Knight star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 16, 2010
    Yeah. Disney would like more critical acclaim than TPM, but before risking a TPM, they don't want to risk a TRON: Legacy or John Carter. Even if people hate it, at least they want to make some money.
     
  13. GeneralCeel

    GeneralCeel Jedi Padawan star 2

    Registered:
    Nov 4, 2005
    Now I'm confused. First everybody said Disney was all about making profit to the loss of quality. But now Disney is into cirtical acclaim?
     
  14. yodasbum

    yodasbum Jedi Grand Master star 2

    Registered:
    Nov 4, 2004
    I don't think Jedi made more because of the jokes. Although I laughed my arse off when Wicket hit himself in the head. Jedi made more than Empire- yes. But could Jedi have made even more more had it been a better film- probably yes.
     
  15. Chancellor_Ewok

    Chancellor_Ewok Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Nov 8, 2004
    The ST will be what it will be. The POTC films are PG-13. They're light PG-13, but there's plenty of swordplay, lots of gunfights and more than a few missing limbs and slit throats.
     
  16. DarthMane2

    DarthMane2 Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Sep 20, 2003
    Yes it did, however it also didn't live up to expectations. See unlike on this forums where people are more worried that Jaxxon won't be apart of continuity anymore, a majority of people are worried about a high quality movie. That worry could translate to fear and a decision to not go see E7, because they don't want to go through another TPM again. Plus bad word of mouth and lack of critical acclaim could have more of an impact for the ST then it did for the PT. People want to see a good Star Wars movie, one that fits up there with the OT.

    A crap Star Wars E7 could make Disney money for the short term, but a high quality could make it for them in the long term.

    The movie will make money regardless, but Disney needs a huge money maker, not just a big one. They have 4.5 million to make back.
     
    TheMasterOfSoresu likes this.
  17. yodasbum

    yodasbum Jedi Grand Master star 2

    Registered:
    Nov 4, 2004
    The Phanton Menace should have made more and been closer to Titanics of 1.84 billion!!! The expectations of some analyists at the time said at least 1.2-1.3 billion. The mixed reviews, poor word of mouth and over hype demaged the boxoffice. More importantly it damaged the brand and hurt AOTC boxoffice of 649 million total.

    I think another TPM damages the brand permanently. (I like TPM and the PT but people revise the general impact that they had on the brand).
     
    SithLordDarthRichie likes this.
  18. GeneralCeel

    GeneralCeel Jedi Padawan star 2

    Registered:
    Nov 4, 2005
    Ever consider that it was the expectations that missed the mark... not the real results. George Lucas himself said Phantom Menace couldn't top Titanic and predicted a gross more in line with the one he got.
     
  19. Chancellor_Ewok

    Chancellor_Ewok Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Nov 8, 2004
    I agree. I think the problem with Ep.I was the hype, not the film itself.
     
  20. GeneralCeel

    GeneralCeel Jedi Padawan star 2

    Registered:
    Nov 4, 2005
    The litmus test would be... if The Phantom Menace were the first Star Wars film released and it came out of nowhere without the weight of decades of expectation, how would it perform and how would it be perceived?

    I don't think it would score a spotless record... but then.. neither did the original Star Wars when it rocked the movie world in 77.
     
  21. DM99

    DM99 Jedi Padawan star 3

    Registered:
    Sep 26, 2012
    THIS

    they will act slowly. Like palpatine did.

    They will begun a civil war inside of Lucasfilm, like Palpatine did.

    They will implement and enforce order 66 and kill all the Jedi (Oldstyle SW Fans and employees) like palpatine did.

    Walt disney is palpatine! [face_not_talking]

    :D
     
  22. DarthMane2

    DarthMane2 Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Sep 20, 2003
    WE can defend the merits of TPM in the prequel forums. The FACT is that the PT is a disappointment for a majority of people who saw it ,and if that's not accurate then it's definitly POPULAR opinion. Which has more sway then a less popular opinion. Like Alfonso Cuaron not being a good choice.

    The ST will need to break the unpopular of opinion Star Wars that he PT caused. If it doesn't your not going to have a huge money maker that Disney needs. The ST needs to put as much distance between it and the PT as possible. Which probalby means having more of the feel of the OT, and being less of a kids movie and instead being a movie for all ages.
     
    TheMasterOfSoresu likes this.
  23. GeneralCeel

    GeneralCeel Jedi Padawan star 2

    Registered:
    Nov 4, 2005
    62% rating from the audience on Rotten Tomatoes. Even the critics give it a 57%. That word.. majority... I do not think it means what you think it does.

    I find it hard to believe that a movie "everybody hates" could have such impressive legs at the boxoffice as TPM did in 99, and then gross another 100M world wide in 3D over a decade later.

    I think it matters here because it effects how we talk about our hopes for the direction of the movies yet to come...
     
  24. Uncle Owen

    Uncle Owen Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 16, 1999
    I think that Lucas may have felt the sting of criticism the PT took and how it effected the saga in general. This may at least be a small part of his decision to move forward with the ST, hoping to restore the luster to his legacy.
     
  25. GeneralCeel

    GeneralCeel Jedi Padawan star 2

    Registered:
    Nov 4, 2005
    Perhaps. Another part of me has always suspected that Lucas is more calculating than we guess. When asked about making more Star Wars over the years he's always denied, but I'm wondering if some of this was in the cards all along and he just tells us no keep the whole thing downplayed. If you say "yes" people expect something soon. I think he sometimes said "No" because his plans were a decade or more down the road, and subject to other matters falling into place. We're talking about a guy who has apparently saved everything he ever wrote, a guy who has micro managed Star Wars and his empire for decades. I don't see him leaving things to whim..