Does Disney getting Star Wars hurt the chances?

[Steve Dubya]

I got to wondering if Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilms (and by extension all the rights to both existing and future Star Warses) is going to help or hurt the chances of a Rifts movie getting made.

On one hand, Lord knows that Disney is no slouch at re-releasing movies ad infinitum, so I'm sure there will be multiple format options to how you might want to view any of the currently existing films soon to be coming. Along with that, the release of the upcoming 2015 SW could very well prove to be another quite lucrative revenue stream for Disney, so they'll have some money to throw around.

On the other hand, with the existing IP that they have already have proven track records for revenue generation that us geeks are most intrigued by - namely, the Marvel stuff and now SW - it doesn't seem likely they'd be willing to risk wasting money on a lesser known IP; surely the failure of John Carter has left a bad taste in their mouth for IP that might not be as easily recognized.

[ZorValachan]

When I read Kevin's murmur for Tuesday and read he was told Disney wanted to make Rifts into their "Star Wars", I thought the same as you, "What now that they -have- Star Wars?"

I hope a 'long time ago in a galaxy far away' doesn't mean an end to 'here on Earth in the relatively soon future'

I liked John Carter, but I agree the marketing didn't help and the name was dull.

[Spinachcat]

Star Wars kills Rifts at Disney. Unfortunately, the SW deal explains why the Rifts project was sitting in limbo with scripts being written. AKA, if the SW deal fell through, the Rifts movie could have been considered. Disney is not going to make Jedi movies and Cyberknight movies.

SW and Marvel at Disney do not bode well for Jerry Bruckheimer. All the studio big budgets will be going to those franchises which have insane toy sales. While JB's movies have made lots of money, his success has been at the box office and not with mega-ancillary sales.

I would not be surprised to see Jerry move over to Warner Bros. I doubt 20th Century or Sony has deep enough pockets to afford him, but you never know.

I live in LA and I have friends in Hollyweird so there is lots of table talk about what the Disney purchase means, especially how things will change in the F/X world now that ILM is owned by the Mouse. Overall, the opinion is that fans will get B product, lots of pretty toys, but it does not bode well for the creative aspects of the industry as a whole.

[ZorValachan]

Would be fun to imagine they would make Jedi and Cyberknight movies (meaning SW meets Rifts). Lol 99.9% of SW fans would go ape-s*** insane. A lot of Rifts players might feel the same, but others would be happy they can finally do jedi to PB conversions

After I wrote my last post, I also had the feeling it might be a reason it was in limbo for so long.

[bar1scorpio]

But let's face it. "B" product would be a vast improvement over the prequel trilogy. Also, I think they talky got burned by John Carter. So, they'll probably give up the rights. Or maybe not. They have safe money with Marvel & Star Wars, and they may just shot on the rights to Rifts so nobody else makes a competing movie.

[Spinachcat]

If Disney views Rifts as a competitor to Star Wars, they will sit on the rights and nothing will ever see the light of day.

I just saw the trailer for Pacific Rim and that does not bode well for either Rifts or Robotech being made into movies.

[Silas]

...and the ghost of Walt raises his middle finger to creative competition yet again.

If there's any way to stop the next pick-up for the rights to the RIFTS movie, I'd say KS and the team should definitely take back the rights and look for another studio. RIFTS does not deserve to be mothballed just because Disney doesn't want another epic movie competing with their new baby.

[Steve Dubya]

Star Wars kills Rifts at Disney.

Well, the new Star Wars is poised to take the all time domestic record from Avatar, and could be the first film to gross $1B [edit] domestically. I can't really imagine a scenario where Rifts is possibly going to be made via Disney at this point; I guess now the question is who actually currently holds the rights to make it, Disney or Bruckheimer.

[Zer0 Kay]

Would be fun to imagine they would make Jedi and Cyberknight movies (meaning SW meets Rifts). Lol 99.9% of SW fans would go ape-s*** insane. A lot of Rifts players might feel the same, but others would be happy they can finally do jedi to PB conversions

After I wrote my last post, I also had the feeling it might be a reason it was in limbo for so long.

Would never happen. That would be like a PB book that had An Invid Hive under the icecap in the Arctic and a misfolded Ikazuchi ice locked nearby. Disney had movie rights not IP. PB has Rifts not Mickey rights.

[Dunia]

Firstly, a disclaimer: This is not an attack on PB or its owner or employees.

I have never believed that there was a big deal with J.B or whoever. I will not say that anyone has lied about this to the fans to sound more important or cool. I just believe that it was more of a wish than actual business talks.

To be honest, making movies out of RPGs have been tried with D&D, Krynn etc and not one was a hit. Comics making movies works better as they are more popular than a single RPG.

I think this was an uberhyped wish more than an actual possibility.

[Blue_Lion]

Firstly, a disclaimer: This is not an attack on PB or its owner or employees.

I have never believed that there was a big deal with J.B or whoever. I will not say that anyone has lied about this to the fans to sound more important or cool. I just believe that it was more of a wish than actual business talks.

To be honest, making movies out of RPGs have been tried with D&D, Krynn etc and not one was a hit. Comics making movies works better as they are more popular than a single RPG.

I think this was an uberhyped wish more than an actual possibility.

How many fans did star wars have before it got a movie?

If you make a weak product and base it off something people know as its only selling point it will have a good chance at failing. While comics are having a good run of movies there have been many comic book based movies that did poorly at boxed office.

For a movie the story and actors can make even an unheard of setting a smash hit.

[jaymz]

Firstly, a disclaimer: This is not an attack on PB or its owner or employees.

I have never believed that there was a big deal with J.B or whoever. I will not say that anyone has lied about this to the fans to sound more important or cool. I just believe that it was more of a wish than actual business talks.

To be honest, making movies out of RPGs have been tried with D&D, Krynn etc and not one was a hit. Comics making movies works better as they are more popular than a single RPG.

I think this was an uberhyped wish more than an actual possibility.

It would actually have to be lies to the fans since more than once they specifically stated the movie option was renewed. That's not wishes that's stating straight up someone holds the rights.