Disney's George Lucas sold Lucasfilm to Disney for $4.05 billion, with approximately half in cash and half in shares of Disney stock. Then-Disney CEO Bob Iger had hoped to acquire Lucasfilm for years, but he'd avoided pushing the issue, determined to treat the legendary George Lucas in as respectful a manner as possible. In his autobiography, The Ride of a Lifetime, Iger re a breakfast conversion with Lucas in which he challenged him; "What happens down the road? You don't have any heirs who are going to run the company for you. They may control it, but they're not going to run it. Shouldn't you determine who protects or carries on your legacy?"
The first years have been bumpy. The sequel trilogy started well with Rogue Squadron - currently due to come out on December 22, 2023 - will be the first new Star Wars film since Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in December 2019 - a remarkably long hiatus given Lucasfilm initially planned Star Wars to become a mainstay in the box office.
Given all this, it's tempting to write the Disney era off as something of a failure. That would be a mistake; after all, even counting controversies and underperformance, Star Wars films have grossed just shy of $6 billion in the global box office since 2015. What's more, the focus on the movies obscures Disney's true success; they've transformed Star Wars into a true transmedia franchise.
Star Wars Has Always Recognized The Potential Of Transmedia
Star Wars may be best known as a blockbuster film franchise, but in truth it's always recognized the potential of other mediums; the first official tie-in novel, Alan Dean Foster's Splinter of the Mind's Eye, was released in 1978 - before Shadows of the Empire in 1996, a transmedia initiative that wove together the narratives of a comic book, novel, and video game - it even had its own soundtrack. Shadows of the Empire was ahead of its time, foreshadowing the transmedia focus that is becoming common nearly 30 years later.
When Disney acquired Lucasfilm in 2012, they made the controversial decision to erase the Expanded Universe from continuity, branding it "Legends." The decision was an understandable one, because wiping the slate clean erased an increasingly convoluted continuity and allowed them to build once again on the foundation George Lucas had built through his films and TV shows. But there was a difference between Disney's approach to canon and Lucas'; he had taken a tiered approach to canon, with the EU expected to adapt itself around his works, but Disney insisted that in the new continuity all things were equally canon. No longer were tie-ins supplementary; now, the core story could be continued in them. The potential of this new approach was perfectly demonstrated with the release of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, with a tie-in novel by James Luceno and a novelization by Alexander Freed expanding the narrative and proving to be essential reading. These carefully wove the continuity of the Star Wars galaxy into a cohesive whole, presenting a complete history of the Death Star's construction.
The Star Wars Transmedia Initiative Has Proven A Massive Success
The last few years have seen Star Wars embrace transmedia in a way that makes Shadows of the Empire and even the books surrounding Rogue One: A Star Wars Story seem tame. Lucasfilm has seen particular success by expanding on to the small screen, producing a number of popular live-action and animated TV shows for Disney+. In fact, Christensen finally getting his chance to play Darth Vader rather than Anakin Skywalker. Characters are weaving between different mediums, with the previously animated-only Ahsoka Tano now played by Rosario Dawson (and due to star in her own Disney+ TV show), and even minor figures from books and comics are appearing on the small screen as well.
Meanwhile, Lucasfilm Publishing is pushing its own transmedia initiative - computer game exploring the High Republic era. The secret to the success of Star Wars: The High Republic appears to be the singular vision driving its story, with Charles Soule in particular seeming to be its guiding light.
Star Wars' Transmedia Has Been A Phenomenal Success
It's impossible to overstate just how successful Star Wars' transmedia approach has been for Lucasfilm - and, indeed, for Disney as a whole. According to third-party analytics, Star Wars: The Clone Wars increased by 104 percent through The Mandalorian season 2's run).
Meanwhile, Star Wars: The High Republic has also been a hit - and, in truth, a major source of profit for Disney at a time when traditional sources of income were seriously disrupted. Star Wars: The High Republic is divided into three phases, the first of which has just come to an end; one fan, writing on The Geeky Waffle, ran the numbers and realized that - because the story weaves through so many mediums - anybody who wished to follow the entire first phase would have spent $436.49 in a single year. This, more than anything else, demonstrates why companies like Disney are investing in transmedia; they rightly recognize that there's an awful lot of money to be made from it.
And the real irony, of course, lies in the fact that the fans love transmedia. While it's expensive to commit to, fans who do so are rewarded with an ever-deepening relationship with the franchise. When a Return of the Jedi era, they know what it means. When Luke Skywalker encounters a Jedi of the past in a Force vision, he's interacting with someone they recognize, and they can place the ancient Jedi in his own personal timeline; when an audiobook references a creepy song, they can recognize its importance and the dark side powers it is pointing to. The tighter the transmedia threads are woven, the more rewarding the experience. And, of course, the more profitable it is for Disney - both in pure financial and in driving engagement with Disney+, a major corporate priority. Thus the Disney era of Star Wars should unquestionably be considered a phenomenal success.
