New Star Tours Destinations in 2015

Ignohippo

Well-Known Member
Disney got ILM and Skywalker Sound in the Lucasfilm deal (and, to be fair, I think those were considered divisions of Lucasfilm so in purchasing the parent company, you'd get them as well anyway). I actually remember there being some hoopla at the time of the purchase that getting the special effects divisions was a key part of the deal in addition to the Star Wars IP.


I hadn't heard that and it was my understanding that they were completely separate companies. Thanks for learning me!

If that's the case, Iger should go to jail for stealing. That's an incredible purchase for $4 billion.
 

Pixiedustmaker

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
If that's the case, Iger should go to jail for stealing. That's an incredible purchase for $4 billion.

You'd think it's a good investment:

Lucasfilm brings in $850 million a year, including merchandising, ILM everything . . . and that probably works out to about $350 million in profits, after operating expenses. So, absent any new movies (and continuing licensing fees for characters), it would probably take Disney over a decade to profit off the deal if they don't make any new Star Wars films.

Of course, to maintain licensing/royalties, you need to continue to prime the pump, i.e. make more Star Wars films so kids still want to buy a Boba Fett lunch box.

Revenge of the Sith probably made about $550 million net profit. So, Episode VII, VII, and IX should make Disney about $1.7 billion, over the next decade. So without a bump in merchandise sales, Disney over a decade would get about $3.5 billion in licensing fees/ILM, plus $1.7 billion from the films . . . which is about $5.2 billion. Totally reasonable.

In order to get the $$$ back faster, Disney will push the merchandise like heck, and of course, do the stand-alone Han Solo film and Yoda films, maybe those will bring an extra $300 million?

Revenge of Sith costed $115 to make, and that wasn't that long ago, now you Disney begging Brucheimer to keep Lone Ranger down to at least $200 million . . . but it swelled up above this number.

For all the paradoxical fan bashing that fans do of George Lucas, it is not a given that anybody can do Star Wars better. Disney is rushing to put out a Star Wars film every two years . . . nuts, IMHO.

The Star Wars deal was also a gentleman's deal of sorts as Lucas wanted a good caretaker for the franchise that he spent so much of his life working on. That affects the price . . . who else has over $4 billion to spend on Star Wars? Sure, Comcast could have got involved, but George has deep ties with Disney, both personal and business-wise.
 

The Empress Lilly

Well-Known Member
In order to get the $$$ back faster, Disney will push the merchandise like heck, and of course, do the stand-alone Han Solo film and Yoda films, maybe those will bring an extra $300 million?


For all the paradoxical fan bashing that fans do of George Lucas, it is not a given that anybody can do Star Wars better. Disney is rushing to put out a Star Wars film every two years . . . nuts, IMHO.
I've already ordered 2 million shirts in my Bangladeshi sweatshop with the print 'George Lucas - miss me yet?'.

I'm going to make a killing!

'Young Han Solo' movies, are they nuts? You can pull that rubbish with Marvel characters, which consists of independent superheroes. You can make as many movies within that universe as you please. SW by contrast is about mythology and epic plot-driven storytelling. It's Tolkien, not Stan Lee. The characters come to live, gain meaning, within the quest - the Death Star needs to be destroyed, the ring thrown into the vulcano. Young Han Solo is as (un)interesting as Young Sam, or Young Gollum.
 

wdwgreek

Well-Known Member
This would be a welcome addition. The beauty of the Lucas purchase is that now these overlays or additions with minimal downtown. They could hypothetically install a new sequence in a day if the software is all ready. It would require some.calibrating and testing but overall it should be an easy install. Its a smart and easy way to keep the attraction new and unique
 

Pixiedustmaker

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I've already ordered 2 million shirts in my Bangladeshi sweatshop with the print 'George Lucas - miss me yet?'.

I'm going to make a killing!

'Young Han Solo' movies, are they nuts? You can pull that rubbish with Marvel characters, which consists of independent superheroes. You can make as many movies within that universe as you please. SW by contrast is about mythology and epic plot-driven storytelling. It's Tolkien, not Stan Lee. The characters come to live, gain meaning, within the quest - the Death Star needs to be destroyed, the ring thrown into the vulcano. Young Han Solo is as (un)interesting as Young Sam, or Young Gollum.

Yeah, people expect a "quest" with each of the Star Wars films. I think that was why the Phantom Menace sort of got a cold reception, it was just setting up stuff that happened later on, in a way.
 

Pixiedustmaker

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Didn't want to start a new thread, but JJ is rumored to be backing out of Star Wars...

http://collider.com/star-trek-3-new-writers-abrams-leaving-star-wars-episode-7/

Kinda not surprised at this news. Abrams really has a hands-on approach with his films, and the whole crew from LucasFilm is kinda "bringing the band back together" for Episode VII, meaning I don't see him having a lot of power to put his imprint on the film, it seems like the project is really rushed. Sort of like how sequels to popular films are rushed and then they don't turn out so well.

I'm kinda ambivalent about them using the old cast for Episode VII. Harrison Ford is a pretty good actor, as are the rest . . . but some of them are kinda out of practice. There's a lot of material for Episode VII in the expanded universe, Timothy Zahn is kinda the dean of the Star Wars Expanded Universe (books), and he wrote a trilogy of books that take place relatively soon after Episode VI, so if they are hiring actors for the Solo's twins . . . that kinda happens later in the books, though they could change all of that if they wanted to. The older actors also means that they are probably skipping ahead, at least as far as the books are concerned.

I kinda they think Disney wants to use the old actors to drive home the point and their Star Wars is the old Star Wars (look we've got the whole crew together again!), but artistically, I don't think this is where the hardcore fans want the story to be picked-up post Return of the Jedi.

So . . . I think Abrams kinda senses that this new film is about making money from the franchise, not about making a wonderful move first and foremost, and from an artistic standpoint of doing something interesting, he'll be kinda limited.

If Episode VII bombs (massive showing opening weekend, but then disappoint that it could've been better, and then questions about where Disney is going with Star Wars), then Abrams probably doesn't want to be blamed for that . . .

Harrison Ford still looks like Solo, but Hamil and Fisher both need personal trainers:

Mark-Hamill-2012.jpg


carrie1.jpg


In episode VII, if Jaina/Jacen are young, i.e. early twenties/late teens, then you'd expect his parents (Harrison/fisher), to look like they're in their mid 40's, give or take. Fisher is pushing 60 . . .

Maybe they'll do something like in Tron, try to make them look younger digitally.
 

Ignohippo

Well-Known Member
I've already ordered 2 million shirts in my Bangladeshi sweatshop with the print 'George Lucas - miss me yet?'.

I'm going to make a killing!

'Young Han Solo' movies, are they nuts? You can pull that rubbish with Marvel characters, which consists of independent superheroes. You can make as many movies within that universe as you please. SW by contrast is about mythology and epic plot-driven storytelling. It's Tolkien, not Stan Lee. The characters come to live, gain meaning, within the quest - the Death Star needs to be destroyed, the ring thrown into the vulcano. Young Han Solo is as (un)interesting as Young Sam, or Young Gollum.


Or Young Indiana Jones, which was like watching paint dry.

Besides, the key there is Harrison Ford. It'd be impossible to find another actor with that much charisma.

They'd be much better off going forward with characters like Boba Fett, Chewbacca, Yoda or even Ashoka, where the character isn't attached to one actor.
 

BigThunderMatt

Well-Known Member
This wouldn't be surprising considering the release of the new movie in 2015, but it will be interesting to see how this is done. A lot of the scenes in the current ride reference the Empire so they will either have to update everything to move the ride into the Episode 7 time, or adapt Episode 7 locations to work in the current timeline of the ride.


There's very little about any of the scenes in this ride that could be considered canon. The ride itself is supposed to take place in the time period between episodes III and IV (which is roughly a span of 19 years).

Let's break this down here:

First Planet:
Tatooine: Pod Racing in Mos Espa. I'll buy it.
Hoth: There was no rebel base on Hoth until The Empire Strikes Back, yet there appears to be a battle going on there right now during the aforementioned time period.
Kashyyyk: Kind of a weird amalgamation of the forest moon of Endor from Return of the Jedi (speeder bike troopers) and the Battle of Kashyyyk from Revenge of the Sith.

Communication:
Ackbar: Didn't join the Alliance until after the Battle of Yavin.
Yoda: Supposed to be in isolation, he was never a part of the Rebel Alliance.
Princess Leia: She appears to be her Episode IV self but many signs point to this taking place prior to Episode IV so she should be younger.

Second Planet:
Geonosis: I'll buy Boba Fett being old enough at this point but the Death Star is obviously only 3/4 of the way done which definitively places this ride in a specific time period that negates many of the other things you see. This one also has the only ending that makes any kind of sense.
Naboo: You come out of hyperspace into a Trade Federation blockade from The Phantom Menace. Ok did we time travel? Trade Federation warships got shut down at the end of Revenge of the Sith.
Coruscant: You come out of Hyperspace into a battle between Republic Forces and Separatist Forces, so basically the Battle of Coruscant during the Clone Wars, which should be over at this point. Also, if the Empire exists, why are you smuggling a Rebel Spy onto the planet that is the very heart of the Empire? This one gets the award for most nonsensical ending.

Point being that, it really doesn't have to make sense what they add, if they add anything for Episode VII because the ride already makes no sense from a timeline perspective as it is.
 

BigThunderMatt

Well-Known Member
If Episode VII bombs (massive showing opening weekend, but then disappoint that it could've been better, and then questions about where Disney is going with Star Wars), then Abrams probably doesn't want to be blamed for that.

And he inevitably would be. The problem is no matter what product gets put out, Star Wars fans will on the whole strongly criticize it. They've now had 30 years since the release of Return of the Jedi to stew over what they consider to be good Star Wars films and what they think would be good films to bookend the original trilogy. The prequel trilogy failed to meet their expectations, I doubt any sequel trilogy would either.

Harrison Ford still looks like Solo, but Hamill and Fisher both need personal trainers

Ford had incentive because he was still getting offered big film roles after Star Wars. Did you see him in Indy 4? Guy looked pretty damn good considering he was about 64-65 when they were filming it (he's 71 now).

I know Hamill and Fisher have both done work since but, especially in Hamill's case, it was largely voice work which doesn't really require one to keep up a fantastic physique you know?
 

Ignohippo

Well-Known Member
Wow...are you a hard to please person? We went 21 years looking at the same video (heck I could probably still recite REX's lines). And after only two years you think it's stale already??



Two wrongs don't make a right.

I know I'm not the norm, but as a passholder (who's ridden the thing probably 100+ times), there are only so many more times I can sit through the Naboo ending. If they have a couple of new sequences in the can (which they do), why shouldn't I hope that they turn them on?

The new ride is digital, meaning they can update it now with the touch of a keystroke. This type of tech uniquely allows for periodic updating.
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom