It seems that the night brings advice. And I remained perplexed last night facing the impromptu announcement of this takeover of Lucasfilm by Disney, even if it is confirmed that the negotiations had started more than a year ago between the various stakeholders. Georges Lucas therefore becomes one of the largest shareholders of the Disney group. Kathleen Kennedy, hitherto co-president dubbed by Lucas, therefore takes the direction of Lucasfilm which remains a full entity within the Disney group.

An important point needs to be clarified: Disney and Lucasfilm have already been working together for many years. This operation, above all financial, is only the logical evolution of things: Lucas wanted to pass the hand and entrust the future of the Star Wars universe to a new generation of businessmen and directors.

With this acquisition, Disney is also offering ILM (Industrial Light & Magic) and Robert Iger (Chief Executive Officer at Disney) confirms his intention to benefit from the know-how of this pioneering entity in the field of special effects.

Disney obviously intends to take advantage of the Star Wars brand in all possible and imaginable areas: Films, TV series, cartoons, video games, derivative products, etc. As is the case with other franchises, Disney will re -populate in the broadest sense of the term a saga that has become over the decades the preserve of nostalgic geeks. Everyone is going to love Star Wars, young and old, geek or not. All those who proclaimed their difference by relying on their passion for this universe will have to make it clear, Star Wars will become a mainstream brand.

Regarding the next episodes of the cinematographic saga, they will reduce those we already know to a simple family affair in an Adventure with a capital A. Star Wars overtakes Anakin, Padme, Luke, Leia, Han Solo and the rest. And that's good. I want lightsaber and space battles but I also expect novelty, freshness, new stories and new characters. The Original Trilogy is in the end only a piece of an epic of which we know a few slices with the Prelogy and The Clone Wars. 

We can legitimately wonder what the Disney group will do with the Star Wars universe. But we must not mix everything up. Confusing Disney and Mickey is a mistake. The example of The Avengers is the best proof of this. In a 2-hour movie, Disney did more for mainstream popularity of Marvel superheroes than decades of print comics and a few movies no one remembers. Comic book fans have been dispossessed of their world and that's what annoys them. We can always talk about the ultra-simplistic scenario of The Avengers, but after all, and judging by the success of the film, the general public wants simple stories of superheroes who fight against the evil embodied by super bad guys, period. The same is going to happen with Star Wars.

Will the next episodes of the saga be based on theExtended Universe ? Nothing is less sure. The continuation of the saga could make obsolete a whole derivative universe which has so far served as a reference for the most assiduous fans.
Cinematographically speaking, Disney can't be wrong: It'll be hard to get more cheesy than the dialogues of thePart III or more simplistic than the scenario of the Original Trilogy.  

Geeks of all stripes, make yourself a reason: Whether you are fans of superheroes, Tolkien or Star Wars, you are no longer the only ones and even if it annoys you a little, you will no longer have to hide your passion for lightsabers or to share it only with your fellows at obscure conventions.  

And to add another layer, it is obvious that a day will come when a whole generation of kids will know Star Wars without even having heard of the adventures of Anakin or Luke, fifty or sixty years ago in old films with outdated special effects and sluggish dialogues. Such is life. 

I do not know if this is good or bad news: Disney, already owner of Pixar and Marvel, buys Lucasfilm, the company of Georges Lucas which manages the Star Wars franchise.

L'Episode vii is already announced for 2015 on website of the multinational entertainment company. There are also plans to release a new album every two or three years. Obviously, Disney also announces the whole panoply of derivative products, amusement park, video games, TV series, etc ... 

On the LEGO side, we will have to find space to store the dozens of sets that are sure to be released in the years to come. 

In the years to come, Star Wars will once again invade our screens, and I am delighted that. This universe deserves to continue to live and develop, no offense to the nostalgic and to the conservatives who will one day have to face the facts: The original saga will ultimately only represent a small portion of a universe that does not ceases to evolve.

Georges Lucas is therefore retiring with a small additional nest egg of $ 4 billion but he will remain present on the next films as a consultant. I just hope Disney lets him influence the artistic choices regarding the evolution of the Star Wars universe.

The official press release can be found at this address.

This is confirmed by this visual posted by Jack o Lantern on flickr, taken from the instructions of one of the sets of the The Hobbit range (79000 Riddles of the Rings): The Lord of the Rings range returns in 2013 with new sets.

We are therefore moving towards an alternation between the LOTR and The Hobbit sets over the next three years (at least), depending on the release of the episodes of The Hobbit trilogy, the schedule for which I remind you below:

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey: December 14, 2012
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug: December 13, 2013
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies: July 18, 2014

Toys R Us offers 8 € in voucher for 50 € of purchases of LEGO products from October 29 to November 11, 2012.

This is not the big madness in terms of prices at this merchant. But we find there in particular the set 9493 X-Wing Starfighter at 45.75 €.

Note thatAmazon UK aligned with this tariff (see here).

LEGO has uploaded the video presentation of the set 79002 Attack of the Wargs by designer Jordan Scott, who is doing quite well despite a somewhat confusing monotone tone.

He presents his set in a rather pleasant way and shows us the different possibilities of the tree provided in this set which contains 5 minifigs (Thorin Oakenshield, Bifur the Dwarf, Yazneg and 2 Hunter Orcs) and two rather well articulated wargs and whose tail is made of soft plastic.

It's playable and there is something to do for the youngest with the modular tree and the few projectiles available. This set of +/- 400 pieces will be marketed at around 59.99 €.

(thanks to Anak in the comments)