Rumors that Disney is in negotiations to sell Star Wars back to George Lucas!

[Chili327]

Well compare the video game sales on Harry Potter and Star Wars and HP will be the big winner.

A franchise is everything: the toys, the books, the shirts, the merchandise in the parks, the video games, and yes the movies.

I don’t think you can cherry pick one section of an IP to declare a victor. For example the Wizarding World is considered by many to be significantly better done attractions than galaxies edge.

Big winner? or just the winner. lol
https://gamerant.com/hogwarts-legacy-sales-update-star-wars-jedi-survivor-comparison

As of July 2023, the Marvel Cinematic Universe series was the highest-grossing film franchise with total worldwide box office revenue of 29.55 billion U.S. dollars. "Avengers: Endgame" (2019) was Marvel's highest-grossing movie with 2.8 billion dollars in global revenue. The "Star Wars" and "Harry Potter" series followed with worldwide box office revenues of about 10.3 billion and 9.58 billion dollars, respectively.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/317408/highest-grossing-film-franchises-series

 

[BrianL]

Big winner? or just the winner. lol
https://gamerant.com/hogwarts-legacy-sales-update-star-wars-jedi-survivor-comparison



https://www.statista.com/statistics/317408/highest-grossing-film-franchises-series

Yeah, it's not like Jedi: Fallen Order and Survivor have been flops or anything. Hogwarts did incredibly well though.

 

[PolymerSkywalker]

My kids loved the books and my dear English friends (living in Southeast Asia at the time) introduced me to Rowling. Incredible books that my children all read and we compared / debated. I always loved hearing their pronunciations for some of the unusual words in the books.

Rowling is utterly brilliant and I am in awe of what she has created out of thin air. The same exact way I feel about George Lucas.

If you give my kids the choice of one place in one theme park land in the US they would chose the wizarding world.

I agree the recent movies didn’t really work, so Harry Potter seems to have that in common with Star Wars…….but even worse. Spin offs are always tricky. I mean Solo flopped, but Rogue one did great……so any spin off is a risk.

 

[Smugpugmug]

Yeah, it's not like Jedi: Fallen Order and Survivor have been flops or anything. Hogwarts did incredibly well though.

Not even the Star Wars game that caught so much criticism that it caused various countries to change their laws was a flop lol

 

[BrianL]

Not even the Star Wars game that caught so much criticism that it caused various countries to change their laws was a flop lol

I must've missed that one.

 

[irlandaise]

Why is everytihg always all or nothing with you? Why the hyperbole? This is why it's hard to discuss things with you.

Yeah, hyperbole about any topic always grates on me.

No one on this thread (or similar ones) is denying that Disney has made some less-than-wonderful Star Wars movies and TV shows. It's just that most of us can put those stumbles into perspective and not go all Chicken Little about the fate of the franchise and/or Disney itself because of them.

 

[dd316]

Never said they didn’t sell some, I said merchandising sales for SW stuff is way down and it is. Should I send you some pics of all the SW toys in the bargain bins at discount / salvage stores in my area. Need some ST era action figures? There are thousands at like 75% off.

Grogu & Mando (Favreau) does sell well no doubt, it just does not come close to what SW merchandising used to be.

SW toys ended up in bargain bins back in the 80s, too. And again in the 90s. And again in the 00s....

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

Yes, I completely understand that, now explain the foam dart gun sections and Barbie sections of any local Walmart. Star Wars is a product for kids according to Lucas himself, so what does it say when average middle class kids don’t want SW stuff from Walmart anymore?

Are there a plethora of new SW related YouTube shorts and IOS based games that these kids are obsessed with instead?

If children are not engaging with the SW products anymore, what does that say for the future of the brand?

Just my 2 cents for what is worth. I think nerf Barbie do well because 90’s kids are having kids and they want them to play with what they played with. Nostalgia is the new mid life crisis, and I think it’s why you’re seeing the likes of tomagatchi, ferbies, Polly pocket, ect. I know for me I buy my daughter things I liked as a kid because I want to share those memories with her, ( what kid wants/ needs gator golf today). Action figures at least imo were never that popular in the 90’s and it’s continued the trend through today, Disney has done a good not great job moving into the digital world with SW and I think they need to put the pedal to the floor with gaming for all their studios.

That being said you can literally find Star Wars merch in EVERY store, Khôls, Walmart, target, macys, cvs, Walgreens, and in multiple departments of each store, they’re like the Reese’s cups of merchandise. That alone should tell you how successful their merchandising is.

Disney, Pixar, marvel, and Lucas films consistently win in theatre even though theatre is on a dramatic decline, and I think you have to take that into account. Media is changing almost entirely, and overnight essentially. Disney has done a pretty good job keeping up with the ever evolving marketplace, and I think Lucas films has been a solid + for them even if you didn’t or don’t enjoy their content lately

Lastly, When talking about Lucas films overall health, Disney bought them for a steal when you factor in inflation today, and hasn’t lost on almost all of their projects. We can try and read the tea leaves going into the future, but as of today they have done just fine. The rest is speculation.

To address the thread directly, no I don’t think it will be sold back to Lucas

 

[PolymerSkywalker]

Never gonna happen. Disney has damaged SW so much that why on earth would Lucas want it back? It’s done without a miracle in my opinion.

 

[bfrosty]

Never gonna happen. Disney has damaged SW so much that why on earth would Lucas want it back? It’s done without a miracle in my opinion.

I think you're right...not sure, but seems like the Star Wars horse has been beaten enough. I know there's dedicated fans, but the rest of the masses just want to move on. From a personal viewpoint, just tired of super hero movies dealing with comic books too. Time to move on.

 

[PolymerSkywalker]

Let the past die, kill it if you have to, and Rian Johnson pretty much killed it.

 

[deansreef1]

Could be but you can't deny that Disney is in a world of hurt financially. Those facts are known and when a company is between a rock and a hard spot they scramble to stay alive. Iger has run this company into the ground and we are about to see the results of a train wreck that has been his tenure.

I just don’t understand how they are broke

 

[RivShore]

I just don’t understand how they are broke

It is hard to understand - per the last earnings, they will have $8B of free cash flow this year, that is after $3B of share buybacks, over $1B of dividends, and a boatload of cash into parks capex. How anyone can call that broke, I'm not sure. And FCF does not lie like EPS sometimes can, with cash, it is either in the bank or it is not.

 

[Willmark]

Let the past die, kill it if you have to, and Rian Johnson pretty much killed it.

Pretty much? Nah it was a full on homicide.

 

[ttintagel]

Rian Johnson breathed new life into it. It's the toxic element of the fandom that's trying to kill it.

 

[0FF TO NEVERLAND]

Rian Johnson breathed new life into it. It's the toxic element of the fandom that's trying to kill it.

He made the worst Star Wars film ever made IMO, so I would say he sucked all the life out of it to the point nobody cared after TLJ

 

[Chili327]

He made Rogue One, correct?

 

[RivShore]

I guess old George isn't that upset with the current state of SW:

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/19/geo...ceo-bob-iger-in-nelson-peltz-proxy-fight.html

George Lucas backs Disney CEO Bob Iger in proxy fight with Nelson Peltz​

 

[Douglas Dubh]

He made Rogue One, correct?

No.

 

[Shoktherapy]

He made Rogue One, correct?

Blasphemy! Rogue One was a good movie that was probably be recognized in the future as being better than when it was first released.

Rian Johnson made The Last Jedi, the one where Leia was blasted out into the vacuum of space and somehow used the force to counter the effects of being exposed and force pulled herself to safety.