Yeah, you read that headline right. Star Wars: Episode Seven has been set for 2015. News doesn't get much bigger than this, so let's just start at the beginning. You might recall that a few months ago George Lucas stepped down from the day-to-day operations over at LucasFilm, with Kathleen Kennedy taking over as co-chair. Well now we're learning that Disney has purchased LucasFilm for a whopping $4.05B, with Kennedy becoming the studio President, answering only to Disney chief Alan Horn.
Their first order of business is setting a brand new Star Wars trilogy set to begin in 2015, with a new film releasing every other year after that. How does Lucas fit into this after saying he just wanted to "make experimental movies" for the rest of his career? He'll stay on board as a creative consultant, but clearly he seems to be giving up the keys once and for all.
"For the past 35 years, one of my greatest pleasures has been to see Star Wars passed from one generation to the next," said George Lucas, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lucasfilm. "It's now time for me to pass Star Wars on to a new generation of filmmakers. I've always believed that Star Wars could live beyond me, and I thought it was important to set up the transition during my lifetime. I'm confident that with Lucasfilm under the leadership of Kathleen Kennedy, and having a new home within the Disney organization, Star Wars will certainly live on and flourish for many generations to come. Disney's reach and experience give Lucasfilm the opportunity to blaze new trails in film, television, interactive media, theme parks, live entertainment, and consumer products."
This will be Disney's show, and as we've seen them do after purchasing Marvel, they will flood the market with Star Wars product to get the most bang for their dollar. This move is likely going to split the Star Wars fan base even further, as the prospect of new movies is an exciting and terrifying one considering the lackluster prequels. But also, Disney's propensity for family-friendly entertainment will only annoy those who hated it when Lucas made a similar decision with his sci-fi classic.
So there you have it. I've been saying it for a long time that we'd get another trilogy, and here it is. So now that it's here, what do you want to see out of Star Wars next?
