Lucasfilm

**Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC** is an American film and television production company that is a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Studios, a division of The Walt Disney Company. The studio is best known for creating and producing the *Star Wars* and *Indiana Jones* franchises, as well as its leadership in developing special effects, sound and computer animation for films. Lucasfilm was founded by filmmaker George Lucas in 1971 in San Rafael, California; most of the company's operations were moved to San Francisco in 2005. Disney acquired Lucasfilm in December 2012 for $2.2 billion in cash and $1.855 billion in stock.

## History

### Independent era (1971–2012)

Lucasfilm was founded by filmmaker George Lucas in 1971, and incorporated as Lucasfilm Ltd. on September 12, 1977. In the mid-1970s, the company's offices were located on the Universal Studios Lot. Lucas founded **The Star Wars Corporation, Inc.** as a subsidiary to control various legal and financial aspects of *Star Wars* (1977), including copyright, and sequel and merchandising rights. It also produced the 1978 *Star Wars Holiday Special* for 20th Century Fox Television. That year, Lucas hired Los Angeles-based real-estate specialist Charles Weber to manage the company, telling him that he could keep the job as long as he made money. Lucas wanted the focus of the company to be making independent films, but the company gradually became enlarged from five employees to almost 100, increasing in middle management and running up costs. In 1980, after Weber asked Lucas for $50 million to invest in other companies and suggested that they sell Skywalker Ranch to do so, Lucas fired Weber and had to let half of the Los Angeles staff go. By the same year, the corporate subsidiary had been discontinued and its business was absorbed into the various divisions of Lucasfilm.

In 2005, Lucasfilm opened a studio in Singapore. 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 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 chairperson, which she did in June 2013.

On July 8, 2012, 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. Lucasfilm had planned an expansion at Skywalker Ranch in Marin County, California, but shelved the plan in 2012 due to opposition from neighbors. However, it still plans to expand elsewhere. Skywalker Sound remains the only Lucasfilm division based at Skywalker Ranch.

On September 5, 2012, Micheline Chau, who served as president and COO of Lucasfilm for two decades, announced that she was retiring. With her departure, senior executives for each of the Lucasfilm divisions would report directly to Kathleen Kennedy. Chau was credited with keeping the Lucasfilm and *Star Wars* brands strong, especially through animation spin-offs and licensing initiatives.

### Subsidiary of Disney (2012–present)

Discussions relating to the possibility of The Walt Disney Company signing a distribution deal with Lucasfilm officially began in May 2011, after a meeting that George Lucas had with the then Disney CEO Bob Iger during the inauguration of the Star Tours – The Adventures Continue attraction. Lucas told Iger he was considering retirement and planned to sell the company, as well as the *Star Wars* franchise. On October 30, 2012, Disney announced a deal to acquire Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion, with approximately half in cash and half in shares of Disney stock. Lucasfilm had previously collaborated with the company's Walt Disney Imagineering division to create theme park attractions centered on *Star Wars* and *Indiana Jones* for various Walt Disney Parks and Resorts worldwide.

Kathleen Kennedy, co-chairman of Lucasfilm, became president of Lucasfilm, reporting to Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn. Additionally she serves 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 serves as producer on new *Star Wars* feature films, with George Lucas originally announced as serving as creative consultant. The company also announced the future release of new *Star Wars* films, starting with *Star Wars: The Force Awakens* in 2015.

Under the deal, Disney acquired ownership of *Star Wars*, *Indiana Jones*, and Lucasfilm's operating businesses in live-action film production, consumer products, video games, animation, visual effects, and audio post-production. Disney also acquired Lucasfilm's portfolio of entertainment technologies. The intent was for Lucasfilm employees to remain in their current locations. *Star Wars* merchandising would begin under Disney in the fiscal year 2014. Starting with *Star Wars Rebels*, certain products will be co-branded with the Disney name, akin to what Disney has done with Pixar. On December 4, 2012, the Disney-Lucasfilm merger was approved by the Federal Trade Commission, allowing the acquisition to be finalized without dealing with antitrust problems. On December 18, 2012, Lucasfilm Ltd. converted from a corporation to a limited liability company, changing its name to Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC in the process,. On December 21, 2012, Disney completed the acquisition and Lucasfilm became a wholly owned subsidiary of Disney.

Iger confirmed that Lucasfilm had plans to have standalone *Star Wars* films released sometime during the six-year period the sequel trilogy is being released, with Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg each developing a title.

In April 2013, the development arm of the LucasArts division was closed down and most of its staff was laid off. However, LucasArts remained open with a skeleton staff of fewer than ten employees so it could retain its function as a video game licensor. On May 6, 2013, Disney announced an exclusive deal with Electronic Arts to produce *Star Wars* games for the core gaming market for a decade. LucasArts retained the ability to license, and Disney Interactive Studios retained the ability to develop, *Star Wars* games for the casual gaming market. On April 14 2014, EA released its first video game for Star Wars under the Disney brand and their ten year contract is set to expire on April 14 2024.

20th Century Fox, the original distributor of the first six *Star Wars* films, retained the physical and theatrical distribution rights to the original two *Star Wars* trilogies and permanent full distribution rights for the original 1977 film, until May 2020 according to the 2012 Lucasfilm acquisition deal. On March 20, 2019, Disney officially acquired the studio after acquiring its owner, 21st Century Fox, thus combining all these rights under its umbrella. Lucasfilm retains the television and digital distribution rights to *Star Wars* Episodes *I* through *VI* with exception to Episode *IV*. In December 2013, Walt Disney Studios purchased the distribution and marketing rights to future *Indiana Jones* films from Paramount Pictures, although the latter studio would retain the distribution rights to the first four films and would receive "financial participation" from any additional films.

On January 3, 2014, Lucasfilm announced that Dark Horse Comics' license for *Star Wars* comics would end in 2015, and return to fellow Disney subsidiary Marvel Comics. On April 24, 2014, Lucasfilm announced that the *Star Wars* expanded universe would no longer be explicitly sub canon (but may be drawn upon for future works) and that *The Clone Wars* and *Rebels* animated series would be considered canon and future *Star Wars* projects would be overseen by a new story group to keep to that canon. Additionally, the *Star Wars* Legends banner would be used for those Expanded Universe materials that are in print. Disney Publishing Worldwide also announced that Del Rey would publish a new line of canon *Star Wars* books under the Lucasfilm Story Group being released starting in September on a bi-monthly schedule.

On January 16, 2014, Lucasfilm opened its Sandcrawler building on Fusionopolis View in Singapore as its regional headquarters with all staff moved from Changi Business Park. The Walt Disney Company Southeast Asia and ESPN Asia Pacific were also moved into the building.

In mid September 2018, Disney CEO Bob Iger stated in an interview with *The Hollywood Reporter* that there would be a "slow down" in the production of *Star Wars* films following the underperformance of *Solo: A Star Wars Story* at the box office. In addition, Iger also confirmed that several *Star Wars* films including *The Rise of Skywalker* and David Benioff and D. B. Weiss' films were in development. In late September 2018, Kennedy's contract as president was renewed for three additional years due to the release of the fifth film in the Indiana Jones franchise in 2021, but in April 2020, it was extended to another year to 2022, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In June 2019, Michelle Rejwan was named as senior vice president of live-action development and production.

## Company structure

* Industrial Light & Magic – visual effects
	+ ILMxLAB
* Skywalker Sound – post-production sound design
* LucasArts – video games
* Lucasfilm Animation – animation
	+ Lucasfilm Animation Singapore
* Lucas Licensing – licensing and merchandising
	+ Lucas Books – book publishing imprint of Del Rey Books, licensed from Lucasfilm.
* Lucasfilm Story Group (2012–) The first two revealed members were Pablo Hidalgo and Leland Chee, headed by Kiri Hart as Lucasfilm's SVP, Development.

### Former divisions

* Lucas Online – In house web development company that built and maintained the websites of the other Lucasfilm Ltd. companies and properties.
* Kerner Optical – Practical effects division (model shop) and 3-D development team (spun off from ILM in 2006 and subsequently went bankrupt in 2011)
* Pixar Animation Studios – Computer animation film production company that was sold to Steve Jobs in 1986. It became a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company in 2006, six years prior to the Disney acquisition of Lucasfilm.
* THX – Theater sound system (spun off from Lucasfilm Ltd. in 2003) Creative Technology owned 60% of THX, and then sold to Razer Inc. in 2016.

## Filmography

### Upcoming

 Untitled *Star Wars* films
 TBA
 TBA

### Television and web series

**Animated**

* *Star Wars: Droids* (1985)
* *Star Wars: Ewoks* (1985–1986)
* *Star Wars: Clone Wars* (2003-2005)
* *Star Wars: The Clone Wars* (2008-2014, 2020)
* *Star Wars Rebels* (2014-2018)
* *Star Wars Forces of Destiny* (2017-2018)
* *Star Wars Resistance* (2018-2020)
* *Star Wars: The Bad Batch* (2021)

**Live-action**

* *Maniac Mansion* (1990–1993)
* *The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles* (1992–1996)
* *The Mandalorian* (2019–present)
* Untitled Cassian Andor series (2021)
* Untitled *Willow* sequel series (TBA)
* Untitled Obi-Wan Kenobi series (2022)

### Television films and specials

* *Star Wars Holiday Special* (1978) (as The Star Wars Corporation)
* *Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure* (1984)
* *Ewoks: The Battle for Endor* (1985)
* *The Great Heep* (1986)
* *Defenders of Dynatron City* (1992) (produced by DIC Entertainment in association with LucasArts)
* *Robot Chicken: Star Wars* (2007)
* *Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II* (2008)
* *Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III* (2010)

### Other productions

* *Filmmaker* (1968)
* *The Making of Star Wars* (1977) (produced in association with 20th Century Fox Television)
* *SP FX: The Empire Strikes Back* (1980) (produced in association with 20th Century Fox Television)
* *The Making of "Raiders of the Lost Ark"* (1981)
* *Return of the Ewok* (1982)
* *Classic Creatures: Return of the Jedi* (1983) (produced in association with 20th Century Fox Television)
* *From Star Wars to Jedi: The Making of a Saga* (1983) (produced in association with 20th Century Fox Television)
* *The Adventures of André & Wally B.* (1984)
* *The Making of "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom"* (1985)
* *Captain EO* (1986)
* *The Making of "Captain Eo"* (1986)
* *Captain EO Promo & Pre-show* (1986)
* *Star Tours* (1987)
* *Wow!* (1990)
* *Paula Abdul: Rush Rush* (music video; 1991)
* *ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter* (1994)
* *Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye* (1995)
* *The Phantom Menace: Web Documentaries* (1998–1999) (Distributor)
* *Star Wars: Starfighter, the Making of the Game* (2001)
* *R2-D2: Beneath the Dome* (2001)
* *The Beginning: Making "Episode I"* (2001)
* *Star Wars: Connections* (2002)
* *Films Are Not Released, They Escape* (2002)
* *From Puppets to Pixels: Digital Characters in "Episode II"* (2002)
* *State of the Art: The Pre-Visualization of "Episode II"* (2002)
* *Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy* (2004) (produced by Prometheus Entertainment in association with Fox Television Studios)
* *The Birth of the Lightsaber* (2004)
* *The Characters of 'Star Wars'* (2004)
* *The Force Is with Them: The Legacy of "Star Wars"* (2004)
* *Making the Game: "Star Wars: Episode III—Revenge of the Sith"* (2004)
* *The Story of Star Wars* (2004)
* *Star Wars Episode III: Becoming Obi-Wan* (2005)
* *Clone Wars: Bridging the Saga* (2005)
* *Star Wars Episode III: Seduction Spot* (2005)
* *Star Wars: A Musical Journey* (2005)
* *Science of Star Wars* (2005)
* *Within a Minute: The Making of "Episode III"* (2005)
* *The Chosen One* (2005)
* *It's All for Real: The Stunts of Episode III* (2005)
* *Revenge of the Sith: Web Documentaries* (2005)
* *Clone Wars: Connecting the Dots* (2005)
* *Star Wars Heroes & Villains* (2005) (Distributor)
* *Lego Star Wars* shorts:
	+ *Lego Star Wars: Revenge of the Brick* (2005)
	+ *Lego Star Wars: The Quest for R2-D2* (2009)
	+ *Lego Star Wars: Bombad Bounty* (2010)
	+ *Lego Star Wars: The Padawan Menace* (2011)
	+ *Lego Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out* (2012)
* *You Can Draw "Star Wars"* (2007)
* *Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed* (2007) (produced by Prometheus Entertainment in association with The History Channel)
* *Star Wars Tech* (2007) (Distributor)
* *Star Wars: Star Warriors* (2007) (Distributor)
* *The Fan Film* (2007) (Distributor)
* *The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones Documentaries* (2007–2008)
* *Spike TV Segments* (2008)
* *Lego Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Brick* (2008)
* *Indiana Jones and the Ultimate Quest* (2008) (Distributor)
* *Unleashing the Tech: The Power Behind the Force* (2008)
* *A Force Wrecking Ball, Part 2: The Characters of "The Force Unleashed"* (2008)
* *The TFU Experience: Unleashing the Force on Your Favorite Console* (2008)
* *Unleashing the Force, Part 1: The New Beginning* (2008)
* *Star Wars: The Clone Wars Preview Special* (2008)
* *Warrior Make-up* (2008)
* *The Star Wars Comic Con 09 Spectacular* (2009)
* *The Making of Star Wars: In Concert* (2009)
* *Star Tours – The Adventures Continue* (2011)
* *Star Wars: The Complete Saga* (2011)
* *Double Victory: The Tuskegee Airmen at War* (2012)
* *Manifest Destiny* (2012)
* *Transmission CVI: AUG 23, 2012* (2012)
* *On Set with "Raiders of the Lost Ark"* (2012)
* *Kathleen Kennedy 2013 Pioneer of the Year Award Tribute Reel* (2013)
* *Words with Warwick* (2013)
* All seven episodes of *Lego Star Wars: The Yoda Chronicles* (2013, 2014)
* *Clash at the Cantina* (2014)
* *Rebels Recon* (2014–2018)
* *Star Wars Celebration Live Anaheim* 2015 stream
* *Star Wars: Episode VII—Toys* (2015)
* *Star Wars: Launch Bay—Meet the Makers* (2015)
* *Lego Star Wars: Droid Tales* (2015)
* *Star Wars: The Force Awakens World Premiere Red Carpet* (2015)
* *Lego Star Wars: The Resistance Rises* (2016)
* *The Star Wars Show LIVE! Celebration Europe* 2016 stream
* *Rogue One: Recon—A Star Wars 360 Experience* (2016)
* *Rogue One: A Star Wars Story—World Premiere* (2016)
* *Daisy Ridley Exclusive Q&A* (2016)
* *Lego Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures* (2016–2017)
* *The Star Wars Show* (2016–2018)
* *The Star Wars Show LIVE! Celebration Orlando* 2017 stream
* *Star Wars Blips* (2017) (animated shorts)
* *Science and Star Wars* (2017)
* *Live from the Red Carpet of Star Wars: The Last Jedi* (2017)
* *Live from the Red Carpet of Solo: A Star Wars Story!* (2018)
* *Our Star Wars Stories* (2018–present)
* *The Director and the Jedi* (2018)
* *LEGO Star Wars: All-Stars* (2018)
* *Reflections* (2018)
* *Star Wars Galaxy of Adventures* (2018–present) (produced with Titmouse, Inc.)

## See also

* EditDroid
* Pixar

## Notes

1. ↑ The Star Wars Corporation's name may still be seen on certain *Star Wars*-related items, such as the end credits copyright notice of the film, and in reprints of *Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker* and *Splinter of the Mind's Eye* as the copyrights have not expired or have been renewed.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Originally distributed by 20th Century Fox, which is now part of Walt Disney Studios.