Continuing its strategy of delivering exceptional creative content to audiences around the world, The Walt Disney Company has agreed to acquire Lucasfilm Ltd. in a stock and cash transaction. Lucasfilm is 100% owned by Lucasfilm Chairman and Founder, George Lucas.

Under the terms of the agreement and based on the closing price of Disney stock on October 26, 2012, the transaction value is $4.05 billion, with Disney paying approximately half of the consideration in cash and issuing approximately 40 million shares at closing. The final consideration will be subject to customary post-closing balance sheet adjustments.

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=96524

I'm pretty stoked about this, seems like a good time to be FFG 

 I hope this does't effect the FFG license.

www.youtube.com/watch

Video where Lucas explains his decision and talks about future movies.

It should have zero effect on current license rights as they are likely contracted for a set period of time like any other license.

Toqtamish said:

Pretty much. For as long as the current license lasts, we'll have the LCG and X-Wing and the RPG. It should be at least three more years (and likely 4, since I doubt they signed a four instead of 5 year agreement). There may also be some legal terminology that grants them extensions or automatic renewal, or first right at refusal if Lucasfilm/Disney increases the cost of the license. Time will tell.

From what I've been reading about the sales of X-Wing so far, I think any company would be stupid to cancel a licence agreement with a company that can make this much cash for them. But then I'm not a business bigwig, so who knows how those guys think… Hopefully this, the LCG and the RPG will prove to be so successful that it will be a no-brainer to keep the licence with FFG. Maybe they'll even renegotiate to give them the board game licence too! Well, while I'm dreaming, I may as well think big…

I doubt that Disney would screw with FFG's license, or really most licenses out there. That's how Star Wars is the cash cow it is; sure, the films have all made an insane amount of money, but it's the whole scope of the media empire which is why they'd pay $4 billion dollars. I'm sure they'll look to find ways to expand licensing opportunities, but there's no real reason to cut off existing licenses.

On the whole, I'm cautiously optimistic about this whole deal. If George Lucas had just come out and announced he was doing more films, I'd just groan and wonder what he'll ruin now. Even if Episode VII is based on a treatment Lucas prepared, it's going to be made by other people, and getting control of Star Wars out of Lucas' hands is pretty much the best thing that can happen to the franchise. Even if the new movies end up being terrible, that's just maintaining the status quo; there's no where to go but up with the Star Wars films.

alpha5099 said:

I glad that Disney's has the right now.  They will make a better  set of movies then epi. 1,2,3.  What killed it for me was that you find out that Darth Vader is Anikin in  RotS.   It killed the plot for epi. 5, where Luke (and you ) find out that Vader is his father.   What Lukas should have done was have Count Ducoo (sp), Gen. Grevis and Anikin, (hell even a clone or the surving part of  Darth MAul would have been cool.) All fall around the same time and have the Lord Sith grab them all and tell then that one of them will be his 2nd.  Maybe, All where heal/fix to a point and Lord sith had each of them fight in a room to the death. We don't see the outcome because the door close.  Next  WE see is Vader coming out of the  med/borg room.  The Question about Padmai and her death could have been ask before the fight broke out IN said room. 

that just my 2 cents.

So yeah I'm  happy someone else is doing it.  It should flow alot smother with the 1st 6 episodes now.  Here hoping.

PBnJ said:

Except we have all known for 30 years that Anakin and Vader were one and the same ever since the Empire Strikes Back. It was never really meant to be a surprise anymore, the whole point of episodes 1,2,3 is Anakin's fall from grace. Count Dooku died quite well. Grievous was a pathetic villain. Darth Maul was awesome but underused in the movies but he came back in the Clone Wars with his brother and did quite a bit of damage and killing.

Toqtamish said:

More's the pity… At the time of TPM, I read that the whole point of Maul being cut in half was so that the fans would be convinced he wouldn't be coming back, and it would be time for a new villain. Ah well. 

Dooku was a wonderful villain for AotC, I was so saddened that he died like a bit of a chump so soon into RotS. And Grievous had such potential! Still, what's nice is that all the three villains from the prequels kinda combine into Vader. 

Um, anyway…

The problem with lisenses are that when one company pays more than another, the higher bidder gets the lisense, even if the stuff they put out is miserable. I still remember the time when Desipher lost its lisense to Star Wars and WOTC did make really afull tcg from that lisense…

This time the game seems to be promising (hard to say yeat how good it will be or any god for that matter), but there allways is the posibility that some other company buys the lisense and Star Wars lcg ends in the void… Does anyone have real knowledge how long lisence FFG have this time?