George Lucas is an American film producer, screenwriter, director, and entrepreneur. He is best known as the creator of the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises, as well as the founder of Lucasfilm and Industrial Light & Magic. Lucas wrote and directed the first Star Wars film, A New Hope, which was released in 1977 and became one of the most successful and influential films in history.
He followed up with The Empire Strikes Back in 1980 and Return of the Jedi in 1983, which completed the original trilogy. He then produced prequel films: The Phantom Menace in 1999, Attack of the Clones in 2002, and Revenge of the Sith in 2005. Lucas also produced the Indiana Jones films: Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1981, Temple of Doom in 1984, The Last Crusade in 1989, and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in 2008.
However, in 2012, George Lucas sold the rights to the Star Wars franchise to the giant media conglomerate Disney. So is he still making a profit off the franchise?
George Lucas & Disney Deal
In 2012, George Lucas sold the Star Wars franchise to Disney for a total of $4 billion including cash and stock, with $2.21 billion in cash and 37 million shares of stock, valued at $50 per share.
Subsequently, he received $1.85 billion worth of Disney shares with semi-annual dividends of $0.88 per share. This yields him an annual dividend of approximately $64 million. This means, that despite selling the rights to Star Wars to Disney, he continues to earn a hefty sum of amount due to his share in company stocks.
Despite not being the owner of Lucasfilm anymore, George Lucas still makes a significant amount of money from the first movie. He does not get any royalties for the new movies or shows as a writer, director, or creator. Nevertheless, because of the Disney stock shares Lucas was given as part of the deal, he still obtains a hefty sum due to the worth of the stocks.
At the time when Disney took over Lucasfilm, each stock of Disney was worth around $50. Lucasfilm had 37,076,679 shares of Disney’s, which were estimated to be worth $1.85 billion. In 2021, Disney’s stock was priced at $200 per share, meaning George Lucas’s stocks are now valued in excess of $7 billion.
Apart from that, for the past 50 years, George Lucas and Lucasfilm have safeguarded their intellectual property rights. Their portfolio includes more than 2,500 copyrights, 1,000 trademarks, patents and designs. Whenever someone wants to use a name or technology they have produced and safeguarded, they receive compensation.
The Epic Star Wars Saga
Originally costing $11 million to make, Star Wars became a worldwide sensation in 1977. When Lucas revisited the movie for a re-release, he spent $15 million on restoring it. The two sequels released in the 1980s were also very successful and expanded the Star Wars universe.
The Star Wars franchise, which has gained a massive total of $12 billion in worldwide revenue and continues to hold the attention of viewers, was continued by George Lucas in the late 90s and early 2000s with a trilogy of movies centering on events prior to the original series. The most recent sequel trilogy and related films and shows were created after Lucas sold the rights to Disney.
George Lucas made an incredibly smart choice when he negotiated the terms of his pay for the first Star Wars movie in 1973. He was due to receive $500,000, a large increase from the $150,000 he got for American Graffiti, but he instead requested that he keep his original salary and receive the rights to all merchandise and any sequels.
Fox was delighted with this offer, not imagining that the space movie would be very successful. It was, however, an amazing decision for Lucas as Star Wars had earned $20 billion from merchandise sales and $4 billion from home entertainment sales by 2012.
