Disney Buys Lucasfilm for $4.05 Billion, Star Wars: Episode 7?

I had a different idea for today's post, but I'll now save it for next week or perhaps later this week, as today's news is big and I wanted to get to it quickly.

The Disney corporation announced this afternoon that they will be buying Lucasfilm, the composite company owned by Star Wars creator George Lucas, for $4.05 billion.  The terms of the deal apparently state that Lucas will receive roughly half in cash and half in Disney stock.  This essentially seems to be Lucas' retirement letter as an owner, perhaps devoting his attention to rest and directing a few more films.  Bear in mind that Lucasfilm, as previously stated, includes not only the movie studio, but LucasArts, Industrial Light and Magic, and Skywalker Sound, all of whom have a pretty significant stamp in the entertainment industry.  Luckily, Disney claims that all current Lucasfilm employees will remain in their positions.

Coupled with this announcement was the further promotion of the idea of Star Wars: Episode 7, announced to be released in 2015.  George Lucas seems to be detaching himself from the franchise, stating that he "always believed that Star Wars could live beyond me" and it is "now time for me to pass Star Wars on to a new generation of filmmakers."

I've been a Star Wars fan for a long time.  In terms of fantasy and science fiction, Star Wars may be the lore that I've invested the most time and effort in, as the characters and the underlying culture of the movies has always fascinated me.  Though I felt that episodes 1-3 of Star Wars were half-hearted and low quality, I am actually quite excited and hopeful for episode 7.  2015 is soon enough that the current trends should maintain, and I believe that the trends are positive for the reboot of an older franchise.  Credit for this hope goes to one franchise: Batman. 

We miss you, Luke Skywalker.

The most current Batman movies have been spectacular, bringing us away from the campy and cheesy generation of super hero movies (cough, Fantastic Four) and helping to usher in a generation of deeper quality (like the new Spiderman film compared to the older ones).  I believe that because of this newer generation, as well as the harsh criticisms given to episodes 1-3, episode 7 has the potential to be a good movie that helps to bring another generation of people to the expansive Star Wars universe.

Will Disney's presence affect Star Wars: Episode 7?  Possibly, but I can only see that being a positive.  If you think about it, Disney has done a great job as of late catering to a wide range of audiences with their films.  They generated emotional moments while understanding how to capture the light-heartedness that makes Disney movies, well, Disney movies.  And come on: Disney owns ABC, ESPN, and others; they know what adults like too.

For my next entry, I will attempt to dissect the biggest trend of the Fall, "Gangnam Style", and why it appeals to the American masses.  Til then!