A Galaxy no longer far, far away

Image: Disney

Look, I’m not going to insult your intelligence by telling you what Star Wars is. As much as anything over the past 100 years, it’s the seminal movie most celebrated in pop culture. Odds are that even if you’re not a fan, you can do all the quotes and have held a lightsaber at some point in your life. It’s fun to swing a giant glowstick in a threatening manner.

Just before Halloween in 2012, Disney acquired the ultimate treat. They purchased Lucasfilm and the included Star Wars franchise for a little over $4 billion. Founder and previous owner George Lucas was 68 at the time and ready to retire. Since he’d worked with Disney previously with two iterations of Star Tours, he trusted them to carry on the legacy of the story he’d created in 1977.

How great was this deal? At various points, Star Wars has stood as the most popular film franchise in history, a title that bounces around between Harry Potter, James Bond, and it. More important, licensed Star Wars merchandise is oftentimes the hottest seller in the world in a given year.

Disney’s first Star Wars release, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, quickly became the most popular domestic performer of all-time with more than $936 million, absolutely shattering the previous record held by Avatar, which was $760 million. The James Cameron film did maintain its status as the top global box office earner ever, with The Force Awakens claiming third. Disney fans understand why this is important. Upcoming park expansions are in the works for two of the three most popular movies ever made.

In the three months that followed the release of The Force Awakens, Disney sold $3 billion worth of merchandise, 50 percent more than the actual box office of the movie. Those two numbers in combination are a billion more than Disney paid for the rights to Star Wars. Not coincidentally, Wired recently proclaimed that Disney’s Star Wars purchase is the “deal of the century.” While competitors still have eight decades to prove Wired wrong, the early results are clear. Disney could have paid twice as much for Star Wars in 2012 and still feel great about the acquisition right now.

Ch-ch-ch-changes

Image: Disney

While the merchandising and movie revenue are a big part of the puzzle for The Walt Disney Company, the third consideration in buying Star Wars was that they could add an entirely new facet to theme parks across the world. Disney knew from experience just how popular the intellectual property was with their fans.

After originally starting with Star Tours, they gradually added to the scale of their Star Wars presence in parks over the years. Hollywood Studios became the home for Star Wars Weekends, which led to some of the largest crowds that park has ever enjoyed. I’ve witnessed firsthand the passion and energy in the building during a Jedi Mickey’s meal at Hollywood & Vine. The only way the place could have been more raucous was if Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher had walked in.

I don’t know the precise details of a Disney/Star Wars fan Venn Diagram, but I suspect a great deal of overlap. Disney park planners clearly agree. First, they took the risk of having non-Disney characters enjoy an attraction and then a month of weekends at one of Disney’s parks. Then, they bought the license. At that point, it was a foregone conclusion that Star Wars would become a daily part of Disney. The only remaining question was how.

On August 15, 2015, Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed the obvious to a captive audience at the D23 Expo. He announced that Star Wars Land was coming to both American Disney theme parks. The presence at Hollywood Studios was expected since the link already existed. Disney had proof of concept there that a Star Wars expansion was a slam dunk. Disneyland wasn’t a shock per se, but it came with more questions.