Over the years, some wild theories have spread across the internet—some more plausible than others—and when it comes to the Walt Disney Company, everyone has something they want to say about the Mouse House and its decisions, actions, and future.
In the past, the rumor mills have been hard at work with theories that Disney would remove Cinderella Castle from Magic Kingdom Park, that Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park would permanently close, and that Space Mountain would become a lights-on attraction. There was even one floating around that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sent the National Guard to block the gates to Walt Disney World.
And now we have another one.
The Walt Disney Company’s financial trouble
It has long been known that the Walt Disney Company has been going through it when it comes to managing its income. After former Disney CEO Bob Chapek’s tenure, the company faced significant losses, which worried shareholders (primarily due to the handling of its streaming services). When Disney CEO Bob Iger returned, one of his main tasks was to take stock of what was going on, clean up the mess, and set Disney back on the right path, putting shareholders’ minds at ease.
We’ve seen many notable decisions, including the 7000-person layoffs that Disney conducted this year which was part of their plan to reduce costs by $5.5 billion.
But now, there is another theory that’s surfaced about Disney in line with reducing costs: that Disney is going to sell Lucasfilm.
Disney and Lucasfilm
One thing that defined Disney CEO Bob Iger’s previous time at the helm of the Walt Disney Company was his acquisition of multiple entertainment companies under the Disney umbrella. This included ESPN (1996), Marvel Studios (2009), Lucasfilm (2012), and the controversial deals with Hulu (majority stock—2019) and 20th Century Fox (2019). The acquisition of Marvel Entertainment, Lucasfilm Ltd., and even 20th Century Fox were dissected at large by fans and the media, in part due to their worry that Disney might ruin the franchises—be that the Marvel franchise or the Star Wars franchise—or simply because they were unsure of whether this was a sound business decision.
Some of these have paid off more than others, but all of us can agree that Lucasfilm has been quite lucrative for Disney. According to Forbes, Disney’s financial statements show that the company has made a profit of $1.3 billion on the movies, and this doesn’t include streaming revenue, gaming, and the all-important merchandising income.
In addition, Disney has also benefitted majorly from bringing the IP to the Disney Parks—both at Walt Disney World and at the Disneyland Resort. Fans love immersing themselves in the Star Wars universe at both parks, enjoying their time at the many rides and attractions on offer, or even indulging in some retail therapy for Star Wars merchandise at the shopping destinations like the Star Wars Trading Post at the Disneyland Resort’s shopping and dining district in Downtown Disney.
Yet recently, some fan theories have been circulating that Disney will sell Lucasfilm.
Where did the rumor that Disney was selling Lucasfilm originate from?
Beginning on YouTube, some fans started pondering the possibility that Disney would sell Lucasfilm. Particularly, one video and creator that comes up frequently is Overlord DVD. The creator quoted a source who suggested that due to Disney’s “looming financial straits,” they would be forced to sell some of their intellectual property and corporate acquisitions. The creator went so far as to posit that the situation was so bad they would have to announce further layoffs, halt work on additional projects, and even sell off some of their theme parks.
The primary reason for this was Disney needing to pay Comcast for the eventual forced buy-out of Hulu that Comcast has heavily insinuated will be their move.
In addition, Overlord DVD suggested that the buyer of Lucasfilm was George Lucas himself.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0p3TYk_yd5Y&ab_channel=OverlordDVD
Question of the hour: Is the rumor true?
Despite what some fans may be worried about, the simple answer is that it’s incredibly unlikely Disney will sell off Lucasfilm. The franchise has been quite profitable for Disney, with Disney creating multiple TV shows and movies, including Ahsoka, The Mandalorian, and more, after they purchased the franchise.
Fans who took to discussion boards all noted the “anti-Disney” nature of much of the creator’s content.
This said, most importantly, Disney has not officially commented on the sale of Lucasfilm, and a deal this big while would have to be carefully navigated and would most likely generate more press.
At the time of publishing of this article, there is no such move on the horizon, and Disney has mentioned nothing of the kind in its previous statements, whether during the shareholder calls or its earnings calls, so Star Wars fans can rest assured that—for now, anyway—nothing is changing.
Lucasfilm is currently owned by Disney, and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy oversees the company’s three divisions: Lucasfilm, Industrial Light & Magic, and Skywalker Sound.
Disney should sell Lucasfilm, so that the true history of Star Wars, which would be the extended universe books could didn’t be made into movies instead of the crap they’re putting out now