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The Walt Disney Company overnight announced a deal to acquire LucasFilm from George Lucas for the rather substantial sum of $4.05 billion.
The deal will see Disney produce three new Star Wars sequels, with film seven set for release in 2015. Films eight and nine will hit screens in 2017 and 2019, respectively. George Lucas won’t be directly involved in the movies, but does hold a creative consultant role.
“For the past 35 years, one of my greatest pleasures has been to see Star Wars passed from one generation to the next,” Lucas said in a statement. “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.”
Regarding LucasArts, LucasFilm’s gaming division, Disney CEO Robert Iger said during an investor call (heard by GamesIndustry) that the firm plans to “focus more on social and mobile than we are on console.”
Disney will, however, work “opportunistically” to license its properties for use in video games, rather than self-publishing.