• Disney to Buy Lucasfilm for $4.05 Billion

    // Gradly // Acquisition, blog, Disney, Movies, News, Pixar No Responses

    Disney to Buy Lucasfilm for $4.05 Billion

    Disney to Buy Lucasfilm for $4.05 Billion

    It seems like Darth Vader and Micky Mouse will soon become colleagues, after Disney’s $4.05 billion purchase of Lucasfilm deal is finalized.

    Disney will acquire Lucasfilm from its founder George Lucas for $4.05 billion, the company announced on Tuesday, Oct. 30. Disney will pay about half of the deal in cash and issue about 40 million shares.

    Disney also announced plans to make a new Star Wars movie called “Episode 7” to be released in 2015, probably followed by Episode 8 and 9. In a statement regarding the matter, George Lucas, chairman and CEO of Lucasfilm, said:

    “For the past 35 years, one of my greatest pleasures has been to see Star Wars passed from one generation to the next, it’s now time for me to pass Star Wars on to a new generation of filmmakers. I’ve always believed that Star Wars could live beyond me, and I thought it was important to set up the transition during my lifetime. I’m confident that with Lucasfilm under the leadership of Kathleen Kennedy, and having a new home within the Disney organization, Star Wars will certainly live on and flourish for many generations to come. Disney’s reach and experience give Lucasfilm the opportunity to blaze new trails in film, television, interactive media, theme parks, live entertainment and consumer products.”

    George Lucas owns 100 percent of Lucasfilm, the company behind the Star Wars franchise and the Indiana Jones movies. After the deal is finalized, he will become Disney’s second largest shareholder and will remain on board as a creative consultant.

    Lucasfilm purchase is Disney fourth largest purchase. Disney purchased Capital Cities/ABC in 1995 for $19.7 billion, Pixar in 2006 for $7.6 billion, and Fox Family in 2001 for $5.2 billion.

  • First Trailer for Sam Raimi’s Oz The Great and Powerful

    // Gradly // blog, Disney, Movies, Poster, Trailer No Responses

    First Trailer for Sam Raimi's Oz The Great and Powerful

    First Trailer for Sam Raimi’s Oz The Great and Powerful

    Disney has released the first trailer for Sam Raimi‘s newest live-action movie, Oz The Great and Powerful. The trailer looks fantastic and visually stunning and features a beautiful new world and vision of OZ with visuals akin to Tim Burton‘s work especially Alice in Wonderland.

    Watch the trailer below:

    Official Synopsis:

    “Oz The Great and Powerful” imagines the origins of L. Frank Baum’s beloved character, the Wizard of Oz. When Oscar Diggs (James Franco), a small-time circus magician with dubious ethics, is hurled away from dusty Kansas to the vibrant Land of Oz, he thinks he’s hit the jackpot—fame and fortune are his for the taking—that is until he meets three witches, Theodora (Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz) and Glinda (Michelle Williams), who are not convinced he is the great wizard everyone’s been expecting. Reluctantly drawn into the epic problems facing the Land of Oz and its inhabitants, Oscar must find out who is good and who is evil before it is too late. Putting his magical arts to use through illusion, ingenuity—and even a bit of wizardry—Oscar transforms himself not only into the great and powerful Wizard of Oz but into a better man as well.

  • Monsters University First Teaser Trailer

    // Gradly // blog, Disney, Movies, Pixar, Trailer No Responses

    Monsters University First Teaser Trailer

    Monsters University First Teaser Trailer

    Disney and Pixar have premiered the first teaser trailer for Monsters University, the prequel to Monsters, Inc. This movie brings us back to our beloved monsters as they were in college.

    Watch the trailer below and tell us what you think?

    Official Synopsis:

    Mike Wazowski and James P. Sullivan are an inseparable pair, but that wasn’t always the case. From the moment these two mismatched monsters met they couldn’t stand each other. “Monsters University” unlocks the door to how Mike and Sulley overcame their differences and became the best of friends.

    Four versions of the same trailer are posted online with different lines from Mike asleep in bed. Monsters University in 3D opens in June 2013.

  • Disney John Carter: Final Action-Packed Trailer

    // Gradly // blog, Disney, Movies, Poster, Sci Fi, Trailer No Responses

    John Carter

    John Carter

    Disney has released the final theatrical trailer for their upcoming sci-fi film John Carter, based on the Edgar Rice Burroughs novel Princess of Mars.

    The trailer is fully action-packed. Watch it below:

    Official Synopsis:

    From Academy Award(R)-winning filmmaker Andrew Stanton comes “John Carter”–a sweeping action-adventure set on the mysterious and exotic planet of Barsoom (Mars). “John Carter” is based on a classic novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs, whose highly imaginative adventures served as inspiration for many filmmakers, both past and present. The film tells the story of war-weary, former military captain John Carter (Taylor Kitsch), who is inexplicably transported to Mars where he becomes reluctantly embroiled in a conflict of epic proportions amongst the inhabitants of the planet, including Tars Tarkas (Willem Dafoe) and the captivating Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins). In a world on the brink of collapse, Carter rediscovers his humanity when he realizes that the survival of Barsoom and its people rests in his hands.

    John Carter is set to hit theaters on March 9th