A long time from now in our own galaxy…
Disney will still be producing Star Wars content.
When Disney purchased LucasFilm back in 2012, many (but not all) fans were upset. The upset fans did not like the idea of Disney coming in and messing with the franchise that they held so dear.
Those fans will have time to get used to it.
Yesterday, the Disney 2013 Financial Report and Shareholder Letter was sent out, and in it Disney gave this piece of information about their plans for the Star Wars franchise (via JediNews):
Intangible assets primarily consist of intellectual property based on the Star Wars franchise with an estimated useful life of approximately 40 years. The goodwill reflects the value to Disney from leveraging Lucasfilm intellectual property across our distribution channels, taking advantage of Disney’s established global reach.
This should not come as a huge surprise. Disney paid $4.05 billion to acquire LucasFilm, and they were definitely going to get their money worth.
If Disney were to continue on their proposed path of releasing a new episodic Star Wars film every two years, that would mean we could potentially see 19 or 20 sequels or prequels, depending on when Disney is counting as the start of their 40 year stretch.
Mark your calendars now. Star Wars: Episode XXVI will hit theaters Christmas 2055.
If you’ve begun to break a sweat, you don’t need to worry. It’s probably not all that likely that they will actually continue to release one every two years. To continue to be successful, they’ll need to have a smart 40 year plan, and that doesn’t sound like a very smart plan.
Luckily, 40 years of content means much more than just movies. It should also include TV shows, comics, books, online content, video games, and media that doesn’t even exist yet.
Note: A smart commenter below pointed out that Disney comments actually means that they project they will cease to earn profits on Star Wars 40 years from now, not that Star Wars movies will be released until that time. Still, Disney won’t be too hasty to stop putting out films that are sure to make them money. See: Marvel.