Disney to reveal ‘Star Wars’ updates in extremely ‘deliberate’ way

Disney to reveal ‘Star Wars’ updates in extremely ‘deliberate’ way

Disney is carefully planning their marketplace lead-in to Dec. 18's highly-anticipated 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens.'

With Star Wars: The Force Awakens releasing on Dec. 18, fans of the iconic franchise have been eagerly anticipating the various forms of manufactured hype Disney has in store for the lead-up to the upcoming film. During a quarterly earnings conference call on Tuesday, Disney CEO Bob Iger gave his assurance that the company’s plans for Star Wars are very “deliberate,” and that products related to the next installment will finally be released on Sept. 4.

An increasing number of Star Wars products have been released in the marketplace in recent months, but Iger revealed during the conference call that the true blitz of The Force Awakens merchandise “won’t come until just a few months prior to the release.” At midnight on Sept. 4, which Iger dubbed “Force Friday,” stores worldwide will begin selling products related to the film, from lightsabers and action figures to new Star Wars Legos. Disney’s Infinite video game-toy hybrid franchise will start featuring Star Wars characters around that time and Star Wars: Battlefront is set for a November release, but Iger promised even “more game-related activity between now and the release.”

Iger voiced Disney’s concern that a lack of a new Star Wars film in the last 10 years has resulted in a whole generation of viewers who aren’t familiar with the franchise. He vowed that the company is planning to “go after this new generation and new territories” which include China, the No. 2 movie market in the world, and promised that Disney won’t mindlessly flood the marketplace with Star Wars products in the months leading to the release of The Force Awakens. 

“Everything we have done to date has been extremely deliberate and we have a carefully constructed and deliberate plan going forward in terms of what we roll out in the marketplace in terms of product and marketing,” said Iger.

Disney’s primary focus in the marketplace in recent months has seemingly been on Marvel’s popular Avengers franchise, but research firm Amobee Brand Intelligence said Tuesday that there was surprisingly 197 percent more digital consumption around the Star Wars franchise on May 4, which fans have unofficially dubbed “Star Wars Day,” than there was for Disney’s immensely popular Avengers: Age of Ultron the day it opened on May 1.

Star Wars is part of the national cultural identity in a way where online interest far exceeds other popular movie franchises,” said Amobee, pointing out that 54 major brands including Amazon.com, Subway and Volkswagen released “May the Fourth be with you” advertisements on Monday. “Considering Age of Ultron has already made ($643.5) million globally, when the new Star Wars movie is released in December, it will probably make enough money to fund a third Death Star.”

If the next Star Wars installment does well at the box office, Disney may have the franchise play a bigger role in its theme parks in the near future. At the end of the conference call, Iger acknowledged the success of single Star Wars attractions such as Star Tours and their theme park Jedi training-academy shows in recent years, and insiders say that Disney will potentially jump on the “huge opportunity” the new film presents after it opens in theaters. The franchise may also play a role in a Disney streaming service should one ever get launched, as Iger said that development plans to take filmed entertainment, television, and movies directly to consumers are already underway.

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