While the fan backlash to Star Wars: The Last Jedi and the underwhelming box office returns of Solo: A Star Wars Story may have some fans declaring it the end of times for the property, the stats make it pretty clear that Disney’s purchase of Lucasfilm was a smart investment, with CinemaBlend recently reporting that the conglomerate has already made back the money it spent on the deal.
To put this into the simplest of metrics, Disney’s four entries in the space saga have so far grossed a total of $4.8 billion, putting this figure ahead of the $4.05 billion spent on Lucasfilm back in 2012. Of course, the financial reality is far more complicated than this. For one thing, we should take into account the huge amount of money spent in the years since this acquisition. And on the profit side, a significant proportion of the company’s revenue will come from home video releases, not to mention the endless array of toys, video games and other tie-in products.
Given all these sources of loss and revenue, it’s quite possible that no one knows exactly how much Disney has so far made from this deal, but it’s clear that things are working out pretty well for the Mouse House, even if the Solo setback has prompted them to put some of their planned Star Wars projects on ice.
But while we probably won’t be getting, say, a Boba Fett movie in the near future, next year will see the company expand their live-action output to the medium of television, with filming well underway for The Mandalorian. At the same time, the next big cinematic event will Star Wars: Episode IX, which hits theaters on December 20th, 2019.
Published: Oct 31, 2018 11:08 am