5 Reasons Not to Worry About Disney Acquiring Star Wars

5 Reasons Not to Worry About Disney Acquiring Star Wars
By Matt Click / November6

In case you’ve been living in exile on Dagobah, the Walt Disney Company has acquired Lucasfilm Limited in a $4.1 billion deal. As a result, Disney now owns Star Wars. A swirling black hole equal parts nerd rage and ecstatic geekery followed the announcement, and we were left with an Alderaan of news: Star Wars Episode VII is happening. Set for a 2015 release, Episode VII will kick off a planned sequel trilogy, bringing the Star Wars franchise to a whopping nine films total.
 

We don't have poster space for another three!

Are you worried? I don’t blame you. After all, we’re still reeling from the prequels. Well, don’t worry. Here are five reasons why Disney acquiring Lucasfilm is, undeniably, a good thing.

Star Wars Unaltered HD Release

As a Star Wars purist and an HD enthusiast, I wake up depressed every morning that we don’t have a Blu-Ray release of the unaltered original trilogy. While FOX still retains distribution rights for home releases of Star Wars, with Disney at the helm, we could finally see a definitive HD release of the theatrical films—and that’s a truly awesome thing.

Finally, back to Han shooting first...after his 2 minute song about "wanting more."

Disney Takes Care of its Properties

You know what else is owned by Disney? Marvel. After being acquired by Disney, Marvel has put out some of the best superhero movies of all time: Iron Man 2, Captain America, Thor, The Avengers. Disney also owns Pixar, which consistently puts out fantastic movies. Studio Ghibli, the brilliant Hayao Miyazaki’s production company, relies on Disney for its Western distribution. Disney, historically, takes very good care of its properties and affiliates, and Lucasfilm will be no different.

And Disney will keep up the proud tradition of exposed mid-drifts.

Collaborative Star Wars is the Best Star Wars

Say what you will about George Lucas—he’s a great idea man. What he is not, however, is a competent screenwriter or director. I will give Lucas all the credit for devising the universe that I love. And I will also give him all the blame for all of the numerous problems with the prequel trilogy. With the Disney acquisition, Lucas is being delegated to the role of idea man. He will no longer be producing, directing, or writing. The original trilogy is so fantastic because it was collaborative.

Star Wars Land?

I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but Disney is pretty with theme parks. And frankly, with merchandising in general. With Disney at the helm, will we see a Star Wars theme park? Maybe. If nothing else, Star Wars products are going to be taken to the next level as Disney kicks merchandising up a notch to make a profit on their $4 billion investment.

Once they open the AT-AT ride, I'm so there!

Get Brad Bird on the Phone

Brad Bird, director of Iron Giant, The Incredibles, and last year’s Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, is known for his projects with Disney. He is an incredibly skilled storyteller, seamlessly mingling action, comedy, and poignant emotion. He’s an Oscar winner, an accomplished screenwriter, and a smart producer. It’s already been rumored that he may be attached to Episode VII. Allow me to voice my overwhelming support. With the Disney acquisition, seeing a Brad Bird-helmed Star Wars film is a very real possibility.

Vader seems excited about it too.