Prompt Cast
The Acquisition of Lucasfilm by Disney and its Impact on the Star Wars Franchise
TLDR Disney's $4.1 billion acquisition of Lucasfilm has allowed them to bring the Star Wars franchise under their umbrella, with the goal of putting feature-length films back at the center of their business model. The acquisition has already proven successful, with The Force Awakens making $1.78 billion in less than a month and the prediction of $5 billion in Star Wars licensed products to be sold in 2016.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
Lucasfilm was founded by George Lucas in 1971 and is the subject of this episode's discussion.
03:52
Lucasfilm was founded by George Lucas in the early 1970s and has produced films such as American Graffiti and Star Wars, as well as other companies like Industrial Light and Magic and THX.
08:46
Disney acquired Lucasfilm for $4.1 billion, but the distribution rights to the original Star Wars movies are still held by Fox, making it a big bet for Disney on the future of the franchise.
12:59
Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm is part of a larger strategy to put feature-length films back at the center of their business model and reacquire the ability to produce incredible content in-house.
17:04
Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm was unique and inevitable, as there was a strong relationship and trust between Lucasfilm and Disney, making it unlikely that another company would have been able to keep it in the same form.
21:12
Disney's Star Wars franchise has already made $1.78 billion from The Force Awakens in less than a month, and The Economist predicts that $5 billion in Star Wars licensed products will be sold in 2016.
25:36
Lucasfilm's use of technology as an amplifier for their business, particularly in terms of their special effects work at ILM, highlights the idea that technology is the best amplifier of a business and can be a lever for success.
29:58
Disney's marketing strategy for The Force Awakens involved leveraging internal assets, spreading content virally, and taking advantage of the power of the flywheel, demonstrating their ability to amplify quickly and integrate slowly.
34:37
Lucasfilm is a depreciating asset for Disney, but they can still get a lot of value from it by incorporating it into their flywheel, although it is not a long-term solution for extending Disney's competitive advantage like Pixar is.
Categories:
Technology
Business
