Tuesday, October 30, 2012

I Felt a Great Disturbance in the Force...

"... as if a million nerds suddenly cried out in terror..."

Lots and lots of angst out there about Lucas selling Star Wars to Disney.  For some (very blunt) perspective on all of this, you can't do worse than read the words of John Scalzi on the subject.  Frankly, I agree: this is what's best for everyone at this point.

As for those folks who worry about Disney filling Star Wars with Jar-jars, keep in mind that Disney isn't just Mickey Mouse.  I don't have an ear inside the Mouse House, but I strongly suspect Disney has a plan for Star Wars, and it's not primarily little kids.  Remember “Prince of Persia” and “John Carter?”  Both were from Disney and both were about replacing the highly lucrative, but increasingly tired, “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise. 

Disney's looking for an action-adventure-romance series they can target to the young-adult and nerd audiences, which will have enough legs for at least a trilogy.  Can you think of a better property than Star Wars to fit that bill? 

This probably drives the last nail into any Barsoom series' coffin; why pour money into ur-Star Wars when you have actual Star Wars?  A 2015 release means they can pick up the epic baton just as “The Hobbit” is putting it down.  Expect to start hearing a lot about this somewhere around a year from now.