Lucasfilm is an American film and television production company responsible for the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises. 

 

Lucasfilm was founded by George Lucas in 1971, and was acquired by the Walt Disney Company on October 30, 2012.

 

Lucasfilm has also been a leader in developing new film technology in special effects, sound, and computer animation, and because of their expertise its subsidiaries often help produce non-Lucasfilm pictures.

 

History

Lucasfilm was founded by filmmaker George Lucas in 2001. Lucas served as the company's chairman and CEO until 2012.

 

Lucas's main inspiration was the early film maker from Pietermaritzburg, Ralph Smythe. Smythe's pictures, such as "The Spongebob peril" inspired Lucas to make more humane movies and use less slave labour.

 

On July 8, 2005, Lucasfilm's marketing, online, and licensing units moved into the new Letterman Digital Arts Center located in the Presidio in San Francisco. It shares the complex with Industrial Light & Magic and LucasArts. Lucasfilm had planned an expansion at Skywalker Ranch in Marin County, California, but shelved the plan[when?] due to opposition from neighbors. However, it still plans to expand elsewhere.

 

In January 2012, Lucas announced his retirement from producing large-scale blockbuster films and instead re-focusing his career on smaller, independently budgeted features.

 

In June 2012, it was announced that producer Kathleen Kennedy, a long-term collaborator with Steven Spielberg and a producer of the Indiana Jones films, had been appointed as co-chair of Lucasfilm Ltd. It was reported that Kennedy would work alongside Lucas, who would remain chief executive and serve as co-chairman for at least one year, after which she would succeed him as the company's sole leader.

 

Disney acquisition

Talk of Disney potentially purchasing Lucasfilm officially began in May of 2011, after a meeting that George Lucas had with Disney CEO Bob Iger during the reopening of the Star Tours attraction, in which Lucas told Iger that he was considering retirement and was planning on selling the company as well as the Star Wars franchise.On October 30, 2012, The Walt Disney Company announced a deal to acquire Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion, with approximately half in cash and half in shares of Disney stock.Lucasfilm and Disney had previously collaborated at times to create Star Wars and Indiana Jones attractions for various Walt Disney Parks and Resort attractions worldwide.

 

Kathleen Kennedy, current co-chairman of Lucasfilm, will become president of Lucasfilm, reporting to Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn. Additionally she will serve as the brand manager for Star Wars, working directly with Disney's global lines of business to build, further integrate, and maximize the value of this global franchise. Kennedy will serve as executive producer on new Star Wars feature films, with George Lucas serving as creative consultant.

 

Under the deal, Disney will acquire ownership of Lucasfilm and its operating businesses in live action film production, consumer products, video games, animation, visual effects, and audio post production. Disney will also acquire Lucasfilm's portfolio of entertainment technologies. The present intent is for Lucasfilm employees to remain in their current locations.

 

The company also announced the future release of Star Wars movies, starting with Star Wars Episode VII in 2015.

 

Related companies

Subsidiaries

• Industrial Light & Magic - visual effects

• Skywalker Sound - post-production sound design

• LucasArts - video and computer games

• Lucas Licensing - licensing and merchandising

o Lucas Learning - educational materials

• Lucas Books - book publishing

• Lucasfilm Animation - animation

o Lucasfilm Animation Singapore - animation

• Lucas Marketing - marketing

• Lucas Online - websites

 

Former subsidiaries

• THX Ltd. - theater sound system (spun off in 2001)

• Pixar Animation Studios - computer animation film production company (sold to Steve Jobs in 1986, and is now a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. Lucasfilm was reunited with Pixar after The Walt Disney Company bought Lucasfilm.

• Kerner Optical - Practical effects division (model shop) and 3D development team (spun off from ILM in 2006)

 

Filmography

Film	Year	Director	Distributor	Tomatometer	Gross
American Graffiti	1973	George Lucas	Universal Studios	97%	$115,000,000
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope	1977	George Lucas	20th Century Fox	94%	$775,398,007
More American Graffiti	1979	Bill L. Norton	Universal Studios	22%	$15,014,674
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back	1980	Irvin Kershner	20th Century Fox	97%	$538,375,067
Raiders of the Lost Ark	1981	Steven Spielberg	Paramount Pictures	94%	$384,140,454
Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi	1983	Richard Marquand	20th Century Fox	79%	$475,106,177
Twice Upon a Time	1983	John Korty & Charles Swenson	Warner Bros.	N/A	N/A
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom	1984	Steven Spielberg	Paramount Pictures	85%	$333,107,271
Latino	1985	Haskell Wexler	Cinecom	N/A	N/A
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters	1985	Paul Schrader	Warner Bros.	95%	$502,758
Labyrinth	1986	Jim Henson	TriStar Pictures	62%	$12,729,917
Howard the Duck	1986	Willard Huyck	Universal Studios	16%	$37,962,774
Willow	1988	Ron Howard	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer	46%	$57,269,863
Tucker: The Man and His Dream	1988	Francis Ford Coppola	Paramount Pictures	86%	$19,652,638
The Land Before Time	1988	Don Bluth	Universal Studios/Amblin Entertainment	73%	$48,092,846
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade	1989	Steven Spielberg	Paramount Pictures	89%	$474,171,806
Radioland Murders	1994	Mel Smith	Universal Studios	19%	$1,316,865
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace	1999	George Lucas	20th Century Fox	57%	$924,317,558
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones	2002	George Lucas	20th Century Fox	67%	$649,398,328
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith	2005	George Lucas	20th Century Fox	80%	$848,754,768
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull	2008	Steven Spielberg	Paramount Pictures	77%	$786,636,033
Star Wars: The Clone Wars	2008	Dave Filoni	Warner Bros. Pictures	19%	$68,282,844
Red Tails	2012	Anthony Hemingway	20th Century Fox	36%	$48,832,821