Disney Bought Star Wars? Be happy it wasn’t Michael Bay!

I am sure everyone has heard the news about Disney purchasing Lucasfilm and announcing a new Star Wars film in 2015.

Calm down, fanboys. I know this sounds awful, but lets look at the facts:

1) The best Star Wars film (Empire) is also the one where Lucas participated in the least. He certainly has vision, but his skills as a filmmaker are lacking (see prequels). Even when he is just a producer, things can go bad (see Crystal Skull).

2) Disney can and does produce excellent films. They gave us Pirates (the fifth highest grossing film franchise of all time), the award winning Pixar Animation Studios (Lucas sold them as well) and countless classic films that have lasted the test of time.

3) This isn’t the first time Disney has managed a popular franchise. See the Muppets and Marvel. Not only was Jason “Marshall Eriksen” Segel’s The Muppets a great film but they let Joss “God of All Nerds” Whedon direct the $1.5 billion box office phenomenon, The Avengers. How many other studios would have allowed such a thing?

Yes Disney is not perfect (I saw John Carter and the marketing was not its only problem), but I have been a Star Wars fan since childhood I have to say I am cautiously optimistic. Disney wants Star Wars for the marketing potential, not because they want to destroy our childhood. They have seen how much money they can make when they let the creative types be creative. I can’t see them doing anything different with Episode VII.

Although rumor has it they will not pull from the Expanded Universe, you just never know what may change as we get closer to 2015. Perhaps we will see the adventures of Ben Skywalker, but I will keep my fingers crossed for a big screen adaptation of the X-Wing series.

As long as the film avoids racist/anti-Semitic aliens, bureaucracy and endless scenes of people sitting around talking, I will be happy.