Looking to reassure hardcore fans, Disney CEO Bob Iger and Lucasfilm founder George Lucas recorded a video message on the news that the Walt Disney Company has acquired Lucasfilm and its respective subsidiaries Industrial Light and Magic and Skywalker Sound. The industry veterans also chimed in on new “Star Wars” films and the future of the iconic franchise.
“I’ve been a big fan of Disney all my life,” Lucas says. “I got very involved with Disney in the ’80s working in the parks. I’ve always had a fondness for Disney. At the same time, as I’ve gone through my career, I realized and at some point I needed to retire and I wanted to go on and do other things, things in philanthropy and doing more experiment kind of films, but I couldn’t really drag my company into that. I felt it was time for me to start thinking about retiring and I’ve been doing that for the last four years. And one of the most important shifts in that was I found Kathy Kennedy – who I’ve been working with for 40 years and asked her if she wanted to come and be co-chairman with me.”
Lucas continues, “Once that piece was in place, I knew that I could step away and finally retire. The final block was to find a good solid home for the company. And the first place I thought was Disney. They are large enough and the match of what our two companies are are just perfect. We are like a mini-Disney. We have the same type of operations. We have the same type of things. And I’ve worked with Disney over the years and I know how they operate. It was a perfect match of two companies that are constructed similarly and have the same type of product.”
For more on Lucas’ comments on selling to Disney and his plan for the 7th, 8th and 9th installments of ‘Star Wars’, as well as those of Iger, watch the embedded video below.