巨资收购卢卡斯，迪士尼如虎添翼

    卢卡斯影业公司（Lucasfilm）宣布，将公司出售给沃特•迪士尼公司（Walt Disney）。消息一经发布，便一石激起千层浪，引发的整体效应与《星球大战》（Star Wars）里的死星引起的星球爆炸相去无几：万千影迷的心灵受到强烈震撼。谁会料想卢卡斯影业会被卖掉呢？主攻家庭娱乐的迪士尼居然不仅要把科幻王国皇冠上的钻石揽入麾下，还会把定于2015年上映的新《星球大战》系列第一部收入囊中。

    此举与迪士尼公司首席执行官兼总裁鲍勃•伊戈尔的战略完全吻合：买下赢家，任其自由发展，然后通过自己庞大的、包括有线电视在内的国际发行网络运作买来的内容，赚取更大利润。2009年，迪士尼用40亿美元买下惊奇娱乐公司（Marvel Entertainment）。这笔交易在今年结出了硕果：票房高达15亿美元的巨片《复仇者联盟》（The Avengers）横空出世。2006年，迪士尼还斥资74亿美元，买下了《玩具总动员》（Toy Story）的制作公司皮克斯动画工厂（Pixar Animation Studios）。伊戈尔告诉《财富》网站（Fortune.com）：“这次我会用同样的办法在卢卡斯影业上大做文章。”

    在目前的电影市场上，除非拥有最大名鼎鼎的巨星——詹姆斯•邦德或蝙蝠侠，否则很难赚钱。而卢卡斯影业恰恰为迪士尼提供了一堆现成的宝贵素材。今年夏天，电影行业的收入出现了七年来的首次下降，降至42.7亿美元，比去年同期减少了3%。更糟糕的是，售出的电影票降至约5.32亿张，比2011年夏天减少了4%——观影人数创下1933年以来电影旺季的最低记录。和所有电影公司一样，迪士尼也被迫减少了投资。而在已经拥有大批狂热影迷的电影上大笔投入则非常精明。

    而且，《星球大战》还拥有更为强大的影迷阵容：父母辈的影迷。1999年，《星球大战前传》三部曲的第一部上映时，排队买票的队伍中挤满了已为人父母的影迷们。他们在青少年时代就是这部电影的忠实影迷，现在则把它推荐给自己的孩子们。好莱坞电影网站Hollywood.com的分析师保罗•德加拉比迪恩称，这是史上最伟大的“跨代营销时刻”之一（网上有大量的视频和博客，教父母们如何向孩子们推介这部电影。）本文开头和后面的照片中就是“星球大战盛会”（Star Wars Celebration）这些影迷大会的欢聚场景，它们吸引着成千上万的忠实影迷，也是星传系列薪火相传的圣地。

    至于这笔交易的时机，卢卡斯表示他会把收益捐给慈善机构。如果卢卡斯本人出任执行制片，那重拍《蝙蝠侠》系列的克里斯多夫•诺兰，或执导《星际迷航》（Star Trek）的J.J.艾布拉姆会来执导吗？这些都有先例。《星球大战》系列中最受影评家好评的《帝国反击战》（The Empire Strikes Back）就不是卢卡斯本人导演的。

    The collective effect of Lucasfilm's announced sale to Walt Disney (DIS, Fortune 500) was not unlike the planet-size explosion caused by the Death Star in the original Star Wars: Minds were blown. Not only will the family-friendly firm control the crown jewel of nerddom -- who knew it was even for sale? -- but the first of a new batch of Star Wars films is already due in 2015.

    The move fits into Disney CEO and chairman Bob Iger's strategy: Buy winners, leave them alone, then wring greater profits from them by running content through the company's massive international distribution network, including its cable channel. In 2009, Disney bought Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion, a deal that resulted in this year's $1.5 billion blockbuster The Avengers. Three years earlier, Disney bought Pixar Animation Studios, maker of Toy Story, for $7.4 billion. "I'm going to do this one the same way," Iger told Fortune.com.

    Lucasfilm will furnish Disney with a trove of valuable material at a time when only the most recognizable franchises -- your James Bonds or Batmans -- are certain to turn a profit. This summer, box-office revenues fell for the first time in seven years, to $4.27 billion, down 3% compared with last year. Worse, the number of tickets sold shrank to about 532 million, down 4% from summer 2011 -- the smallest audience movies have attracted since 1993 during their busiest months. Disney, like all studios, is forced to place fewer bets. A bet on films with an already avid fan base is smart.

    And Star Wars has something even more powerful behind it: dads (and moms). When the first film of the second trilogy came out in 1999, ticket lines were packed with parents who had been fans in their youth, introducing the series to their sons and daughters. Hollywood.com analyst Paul Dergarabedian says it was one of the greatest "transgenerational marketing moments" in history. (There is a thriving world of web videos and blogs dedicated to advising parents on introducing their kids to the franchise.) Fan conferences like the Star Wars Celebration, photographed above and in the following gallery, attract tens of thousands of devotees and are prime grounds for indoctrination.

    As for the timing of the deal, Lucas says he is donating the proceeds to charity. With Lucas acting as executive producer, could Christopher Nolan, who rebooted the Batman franchise, or J.J. Abrams, who remade Star Trek, be lured to direct? There is a precedent. The most critically acclaimed of all the Star Wars films, The Empire Strikes Back, was not directed by Lucas.