October 30, 2012, Walt Disney Co. has purchased LucasFilms, LTD for a staggering 4.05 billion dollars, the companies announced in a press release today. The companies also jointly announced a 7th Star Wars movie, tenatively titled “Episode 7” according to the Associate Press. Disney also plans to release a new Star Wars movie every one to two years.
Lucas, who once said the franchise was finished, is now turning the franchise over to the next generation. Walt Disney Co. will also take over Lucas’ brilliant and innovative visual effects company, Industrial Light & Magic (“ILM”) and Skywalker Sound, in addition to the Indiana Jones movie franchise. For now, Lucas maintains that he gets to become a fan, enjoying the series with everyone else. The plot for “Episode 7 will continue where Return of the Jedi left off. I have a feeling that Disney will turn the oft-ridiculed yet beloved space western into a franchise like Pirates of the Caribbean, and if the amusement rides and if Johnny Depp will follow, finding a place in a galaxy far far away.
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