Disney Buys Right to Star Wars — Episode VII in the Works

The Force will be with us...again with another installment of Star Wars, as creator George Lucas has shocked the world by selling his company Lucasfilm (and thus the franchise)  to Disney in a $4.05 billion dollar deal. The move to the dark side comes complete with a new Star Wars film, Episode VII, due in 2015.

"For the past 35 years, one of my greatest pleasures has been to see Star Wars passed from one generation to the next. It's now time for me to pass Star Wars on to a new generation of filmmakers," Lucas said in a statement. "I've always believed that Star Wars could live beyond me, and I thought it was important to set up the transition during my lifetime. I'm confident that with Lucasfilm...having a new home within the Disney organization, Star Wars will certainly live on and flourish for many generations to come."

Alright, we are totally down with this, but please, please don't screw it up again. We want Darth Vader tearing up the galaxy, killing Jedi and lots of Bounty Hunters, too. And for the love of god, no more Ewoks, Jar Jars or cutesy puppet creatures. We want Empire Strikes Back kinda dark. Of course, this is Disney we're talking about, so it's more likely we'll get Buzz Lightyear.

Since their initial releases, Lucas has continued to tinker with and re-issue different versions of all six Star Wars films, mostly to the disappointment of geeks like us. He never indicated that he would be involved in making a seventh chapter of the saga and pretty much flat out denied it. No word yet if Lucas will have anything to do with the new film.

[ABC News]