Showbiz Sandbox 170: Why Star Wars Is Better Off Without George Lucas
November 12, 2012
Two weeks ago Disney surprised everyone by purchasing Lucasfilm for a pricetag of $4 billion. Like the studio’s acquisition of Marvel in 2009, the move makes perfect sense since Disney can exploit the Star Wars franchise in films, television and theme parks. Given the quality of the prequels, it’s not hard to see why fans were relieved to hear George Lucas, the creator of the Star Wars universe, will have a limited role in the sequels Disney plans on releasing.
Speaking of lucrative franchises, the latest James Bond film, “Skyfall” was released to both favorable reviews and huge grosses. The twenty-third installment of the Bond series may earn over $1 billion at the international box office. And all without 3-D ticket surcharges.
Though audiences continue to reject paying a premium for 3-D movies in theaters, consumer electronic manufacturers report that the sales of 3-D capable televisions and Blu-Ray players is on the rise. However just because a TV can play 3-D content doesn’t mean people will take advantage of the technology.
Our former host Karen Woodward joins us for a rundown of all the top entertainment news stories from the past two weeks, including the huge sales figures from Taylor Swift’s new album, Mark Wahlberg signs on for the next “Transformers” film and CBS finally signs up for Hulu.
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Foreign Box Office: ‘Skyfall’ Stays Mighty Overseas; Poised To Become Best-Grossing Bond Ever Offshore
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/foreign-box-office-skyfall-stays-388567
Russian Box Office Hits $1 Billion Mark Faster Than in 2011
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/russian-box-office-2012-1-385426
Film Studios Starting To Release Video-on-Demand Sales Figures
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-arbitrage-vod-20121102,0,6330523.story
Disney to Buy Lucasfilm for $4.05 Billion; New ‘Star Wars’ Movie Set for 2015
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/disney-buy-lucasfilm-405-billion-384448
New ‘Star Wars’ Movie Has Treatment By ‘Toy Story 3’ Writer
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/new-star-wars-movie-has-387784
Average Circulation At The Top 20 U.S. Daily Newspapers
https://accessabc.wordpress.com/2012/10/30/the-top-u-s-newspapers-for-september-2012/
Newspapers’ Digital Circulation Climbs
http://www.adweek.com/news/press/newspapers-digital-circulation-climbs-144889
Newspapers Lower Paywalls for Election
http://www.adweek.com/news/press/newspapers-lower-paywalls-election-145019
Spotify Raising $100m for Expansion; Opening in Latin America, Eastern Europe Next Year
http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/digital-and-mobile/spotify-raising-100m-for-expansion-opening-1008010152.story
Spotify Is Having A Good 2012: Revenues Could Reach $500M As It Expands The Digital Music Market
http://techcrunch.com/2012/11/10/spotify-is-having-a-good-2012-revenues-could-reach-500m-as-it-expands-the-digital-music-market/
Mark Wahlberg to Star in ‘Transformers 4’
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/transformers-4-mark-wahlberg-star-387935
Elmo Puppeteer Kevin Clash Accused of Underage Relationship, Taking Leave From ‘Sesame Street’
http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/tv/elmo-puppeteer-kevin-clash-accused-of-underage-relationship-taking-leave-from-sesame-street/2012/11/12/10cefca2-2cda-11e2-b631-2aad9d9c73ac_story.html
CBS Heads to Hulu With Multi-Year Content Deal
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/cbs-heads-hulu-multi-year-386376
Hulu Reaches Licensing Pact for CBS Library Content
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/490254-Hulu_Reaches_Licensing_Pact_for_CBS_Library_Content.php
CBS Sets ‘Elementary’ to Air After Super Bowl
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/cbs-sets-elementary-air-super-386464
Melville House Goes Subscription for Backlist Series
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/54724-melville-house-goes-subscription-for-backlist-series.html
NBC Moves to Shake Up ‘Today’ Leadership
http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/12/nbc-moves-to-shake-up-today-leadership/
Taylor Swift’s ‘Red’ Sells 1.21 Million in Biggest Sales Week for an Album Since 2002
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/taylor-swifts-red-sells-million-384579
‘Downton Abbey’ Season Three Ends on U.K.’s ITV Ends on High, Becomes Show’s Highest-Rated Season
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/downton-abbey-third-season-ratings-highest-uk-itv-386334
Why Is Amazon Deleting Writers’ Reviews of Other Authors’ Books?
http://www.latimes.com/features/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-why-is-amazon-deleting-writers-reviews-of-other-authors-books-20121102,0,7028228.story
Amazon To Win EU E-Book Pricing Tussle With Apple
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/06/net-us-eu-apple-publishers-idUSBRE8A50SA20121106
Famed Quotation Isn’t Dead, And Could Even Prove Costly
http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/06/showbiz/movies/faulkner-midnight-paris-allen-lawsuit/index.html
New Louis C. K. Standup Special Coming to HBO
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/12/new-louis-c-k-standup-special-coming-to-hbo/
3D Grows Deceptively Strong
http://hollywoodinhidef.com/2012/10/3d-grows-deceptively-strong/
HDTV Over 100 Mil; Blu-Ray Near 50 Mil.
http://hollywoodinhidef.com/2012/10/hdtv-over-100-mil-blu-ray-near-50-mil/
40 3D Movies In 2013; 3DTV Grows
http://hollywoodinhidef.com/2012/10/40-3d-movies-in-2013-3dtv-grows/
The last time George Lucas didn’t direct or have a hand in writing a Star Wars film was…The Empire Strikes Back, the last one in the series everyone agrees was great. So maybe there’s actually a reason to look forward to Star Wars VII, VII and IX despite the horror stories that were !, II and III.