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| Robert Iger and George Lucas (Disney publicity photo) |
Along with a storm, an earthquake — at least judging from my Twitter feed — in the science-fantasy firmament. As you’ve probably already read, Disney has agree to purchase Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion. And with this announcement, Disney also announced that Star Wars: Episode VII is targeted for release in 2015!
It’s a big deal, and not just financially. (Coincidentally, that’s almost exactly the figure Disney announced it was purchasing Marvel for three years ago). The notion of episodes VII-IX, many may recall, first came from a 1980 Time magazine interview with Lucas — and even then were described very vaguely. But 2015 is just three years away!
I don’t know more than anyone else — I’m just the piano player! — but you should definitely check out the post of Pablo Hidalgo, on the official Star Wars blog!
Star Wars is George Lucas’ creation, and across the years, those of us who’ve produced licensed publications have worked hard to take good care of the cultural treasure he created. I’m sure the same will be true of Disney, as the stewards of his creation going forward; they’re a class act. I’m as interested as everyone else in seeing the cool things they have planned!
Update: There is also Steve Sansweet’s piece on the official blog — and Jonathan Rinzler’s look into the history of Episodes VII-IX.