Disney is adding the Star Wars franchise to their stable of characters; until now Lucasfilm was 100% owned by its founder, George Lucas.
Whilst ranked behind previous buyouts of Capital Cities/ABC and, more recently, Pixar, it trumps what they paid for Marvel back in August 2009.
George Lucas, Chairman and Chief, said in a statement “it’s now time for me to pass Star Wars on to a new generation of filmmakers”.
Perhaps a pity he didn’t do this before Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.
The latest part of the Star Wars saga, Episode VII, is targeted for release in 2015.
There’s A New Hope that “the force is strong with this one”.
More to follow.
Mark Brassington 
Wow
From BBC News:
“In a statement announcing the purchase, Disney said it planned to release a new Star Wars film, episode seven, in 2015.
That will be followed by episodes eight and nine and then one new movie every two or three years, the company said.”
I’m looking forward to “The Jar Jar Binks Chronicles: Vol. 3” already!
Personally I’d like to see either Werner Herzog or David Lynch given free rein
On a more serious note, Neill Blomkamp (District 9) or Duncan Jones (Moon, Source Code) would be an excellent choice for Episode VII.