George Lucas sold the rights to LucasFilm to Disney for $4 billion. In retrospect, that seems like a huge bargain, considering The Force Awakens made over $2 billion at the box office, and sales from Star Wars merchandise has already brought in another estimated $1.5 billion. That’s a lot of cheddar for the Mouse — no wonder the transaction is already being called the “Deal of the Century.” And Disney is going to keep raking it in: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story made over $1 billion, while a second Force Friday — the day when toys for the new film are released into stores — has already been scheduled for September 1, months before The Last Jedi is out in theaters.
“The first Star Wars Force Friday event was truly unique, uniting fans across five continents in an unprecedented global live unboxing event ahead of thousands of midnight openings at retail,” said Jimmy Pitaro, Chairman, Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media, in a statement. “We’re excited to confirm that Star Wars Force Friday is back for The Last Jedi. Plans for this year’s world-wide event are top secret but expect something befitting the excitement around the next episode of the Star Wars saga.”
There’s no information of what merchandise will be available (probably more lightsabers, considering Hasbro sold five million of them in 2015 alone), although the press release hints at “introducing new characters from the movie in toy form [and] introducing more innovative technology to bring the characters and stories from the film to life in unique ways.” Already have one BB-8 rolling droid? Why not eight. And hey, here’s a box with the product packaging. Kids (and adults with disposable income) love boxes! It’s also our first look at Rey, Finn, and Poe in The Last Jedi. Start saving your money now.
