I am speechless...

Disney acquiring Lucasfilm, including operating businesses ILM and Skywalker Sound.

Three new movies in the works, Episode 7 coming in 2015.

See the contract being signed, plus video statement from George:

Disney Buying Lucasfilm

Unexpected news...

Would be great to see some memorabilia cards in future releases of the Star Wars franchise!

quote:

Originally posted by archifou:
Unexpected news...

Would be great to see some memorabilia cards in future releases of the Star Wars franchise!

I think this is awesome!!! Change is good, and SW needed a change. Besides, I think it'll be great to see what Upper Deck can do with the franchise.

I dunno, look what Disney did with John Carter.

quote:

Originally posted by geoffbovey:
I think this is awesome!!! Change is good, and SW needed a change. Besides, I think it'll be great to see what Upper Deck can do with the franchise.

Let's all hope that Upper Deck and their "we don't want to sell to everyone" policy don't get their hooks in Star Wars.

I'm fine with Disney owning Lucasfilm, but not with UD getting the license for cards.

Ed

Ummmm, maybe I am wrong here, but where did it say ANYWHERE that UD would get the license lol? Disney OWNS TOPPS. Pretty sure Topps will be keeping the Star Wars license.

quote:

Originally posted by richscards:
I am speechless...

Disney acquiring Lucasfilm, including operating businesses ILM and Skywalker Sound.

Three new movies in the works, Episode 7 coming in 2015.

See the contract being signed, plus video statement from George:

Disney Buying Lucasfilm

With plans for episodes 8 and 9.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/...845002--finance.html


.

I would love to see Christopher Nolan direct the next trilogy. Without a doubt he's the one director who can get the Star Wars franchise back on track.

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
I dunno, look what Disney did with John Carter.

Disney John Carter was killer! Not sure why it had bad reviews but did you even watch the movie?

Disney does not own Topps. Michael Eisner's new company, Tornante, along with Madison Dearborn Partners owns Topps.

I'm with Ed on the licensing issue, but the plan for now appears to be that Lucafilm will continue to operate independently, like Marvel has been, so let's hope that Lucas Licensing is left alone for a good long while.

This is the best news I have heard since Disney purchased Marvel!

Hopefully they will keep Celebration in Orlando

quote:

Originally posted by richscards:
Disney does not own Topps. Michael Eisner's new company, Tornante, along with Madison Dearborn Partners owns Topps.

I'm with Ed on the licensing issue, but the plan for now appears to be that Lucafilm will continue to operate independently, like Marvel has been, so let's hope that Lucas Licensing is left alone for a good long while.

There have been a lot of issues with Marvel a lot of which is to do with with there licensing. This is especially the case with the international market, as Disney starts to pull the licensing from existing holders asap (typically when the terms have run out) and transfer them to the companies they already use or bring them in house. Because they have an existing relationship with with UD you could see this as a real possibility in the future, you should also look at Marvel obtain the rights to the comics from Dark Horse when the next deal expires. When your owned by the mouse nothing is really independent.

quote:

Originally posted by Flag City Collectibles:

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
I dunno, look what Disney did with John Carter.

Disney John Carter was killer! Not sure why it had bad reviews but did you even watch the movie?

I rented the DVD, watched about 20 minutes and shut it off, never to return. I just didn't get into it, so the answer would be NO. However I wasn't talking about what I thought of the film or even about anybody's reviews. I was talking about Disney's financial loss, which is estimated to be around $80 million, after counting domestic/international receipts and DVD sales. John Carter was supposed to be the start of a Star Wars like franchise and now they will not be making any sequel. It's huge budget sunk any hope of breaking even at around $600 million. It caused a change of management at Disney.

I'm sure there were many people who saw it and liked it, but there is no way to call John Carter a successful film when it will likely wind up as the flop of the year.

quote:

Originally posted by Sci-FiPlanet:
you should also look at Marvel obtain the rights to the comics from Dark Horse when the next deal expires. When your owned by the mouse nothing is really independent.

I read a Dark Horse tweet that was optimistic, but even reading into it, they expect the same thing. It was along the lines of "congrats, we've got some things planned for the short-term and hope to continue long-term."

Sounds to me like a possible big change for comics in the near future.

Cards? I suspect it won't be going anywhere. Now if Fleer were still around (as a business and not an UD trademark) and still part of the Marvel portfolio, it might be a different story.

If there are any toy collector's out there, does Disney own a toy manufacturer? If so, they might give them the lucrative Star Wars action figure line that Kenner/Hasbro has had since the first movie was released. It would truly be the end of an era if Hasbro doesn't make the Star Wars figures of the future, and the line that has run nonstop since 1995 or 1996 when Hasbro re-started it would come to and end after 15+ years.

Also, Star Wars was always a very "PG" rated property so I was surprised (but delighted) a few years back when Lucas gave the more adult in tone Family Guy TV series the right to adapt the trilogy. While the versions aired on TV are basically all ages fare, the uncut versions on the DVD releases had the more out there Family Guy edge including some spoken words I can't ever imagine hearing on a DVD with the Disney logo. I wonder if those will go out of print for that reason. I guess Disney could release them under the other labels they use for more mature material. And unless Fox had some longterm deal, I can't see Disney allowing any future editions of it on the Fox label.

And speaking of which, while I'm happy for the new movies, it'll be very strange to not see the 20th Century logo and hear the traditional Fox fanfare music when the lights go down in the theater. I'm sure they'll still use the traditional Lucasfilm logo on the sequel trilogy at least. They'd be crazy not to.

Finally, I want to tip my hat to both Dark Horse and Topps should they lose their licenses to Disney owned companies. Both of those companies kept Star Wars alive when not even the prequel trilogy was a sure thing. What both companies have done for the Star Wars brand I can't praise enough, and I hope there is a way for both to continue with the licenses. But even if not, both do a lot of other great stuff, so while losing Star Wars would certainly hurt them, I think they'll both continue to thrive.