Disney buys out George Lucas, the creator of “Star Wars”
Lucasfilm gives Disney material for fresh hits in tough times. Studio bosses
complain that the only films that pull crowds to cinemas are familiar franchises
such as Batman or James Bond. People are spending more time watching small
screens and shelling out less to watch features on large ones, even when studios
are spending more to make them. Around 1.28 billion movie tickets were sold in
America last year, the fewest since 1995. This summer would have been dismal
without the success of “The Avengers” and “The Dark Knight Rises”. Studios have
kept revenues stable only by raising ticket prices.
