迪士尼用$4.05 billion 買了 Star Wars 專利權及會在2015 有新的Star Wars Movie.
http://www.torontosun.com/2012/10/30/disney-to-buy-star-wars-producer-lucasfilm-for-405b
Walt Disney Co has agreed to buy filmmaker George Lucas’s Lucasfilm
Ltd and the “Star Wars” franchise for $4.05 billion in cash and stock, a
blockbuster deal that includes the surprise promise of a new film in
the series in 2015.
Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger, in prepared remarks for analysts,
said the plan was to release a new movie in the series every two to
three years thereafter. The last “Star Wars” picture was “Revenge of the
Sith” in 2005, and Lucas has in past denied any plans for more.
Lucas, a Hollywood icon known for exercising control over the most
minute details of the fictional universe he created, will remain as a
creative consultant on the new films.
“It‘s now time for me to pass ’Star Wars’ on to a new generation of
filmmakers,” he said in a statement. Lucas will become the
second-largest individual holder of Disney shares, with a 2.2 percent
stake.
Disney will pay about half the purchase price in cash and issue about 40 million shares at closing.
Chief Financial Officer Jay Rasulo, in prepared remarks, said the
deal would lower Disney’s earnings per share by a low single-digits
percentage in fiscal 2013 and 2014. H e also said Disney would
repurchase all of the issued shares on the open market within the next
two years, on top of planned buybacks.
This deal marks the third time in less than seven years that Disney
has signed a massive deal to take over a beloved studio or character
portfolio, part of its strategy to acquire brands that can be stretched
across TV, movies, theme parks and the Internet.
In early 2006, Disney struck a deal to acquire “Toy Story” creator
Pixar, and in the summer of 2009 it bought the comic book powerhouse
Marvel Entertainment
“Because Lucas is private, I would assume most investors would be
surprised (by the deal). My point of view is that Disney already has a
great portfolio and this adds one more. They don’t have any holes, but
their past deals have been additive,” said Morningstar analyst Michael
Corty.
From a fan’s perspective, critics said there was sure to be at least
some excitement at the prospect of episode seven in the saga of Luke
Skywalker and Darth Vader.
“Do I want to see more Star Wars movies? Not really, but they’re not
making these movies for me. There’s a whole new generation of Star Wars
fans, and they worship the prequels like folks my age worshipped the
original trilogy,” the film writer “Mr. Beaks” said on the well-regarded
industry site Ain’t It Cool News.
Besides “Star Wars,” the Lucasfilm deal also includes rights to the
“Indiana Jones” franchise, though Disney did not elaborate on any plans
for that series.
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