Four billion dollars is a proud amount even for Disney. Yet the mouse studio put this amount on the table twice in 2009 and 2012 – first for the purchase of Marvel Studios and then, three years later, again for the purchase of Lucasfilm (and of course especially for the rights to the ‘Star Wars’ series ). ” brand).
Now the company has it on its website Vote on Disney.comwhich is specifically aimed at (potential) investors, lists how much profit the two brands Marvel and Star Wars have made so far. Were the billions of dollars a worthwhile investment at the time – or perhaps you dug a little too deep into your pockets given the illustrious names?
The money was returned in record time
If you compare the production and marketing costs of the films and series produced since then against the income (cinema, streaming, TV, merchandising, etc.), then The Lucasfilm brands alone (alongside “Star Wars” and especially “Indiana Jones”) have made $11.6 billion in profits since 2012. That would be 2.9 times the purchase price – and the acquired studio would have paid for itself just six years after purchase.
Marvel has been owned by Disney for three years longer than Lucasfilm, but has already contributed $13.2 billion to the group’s bottom line (and we don’t even take into account indirect profits from amusement park attractions, for example). That’s actually 3.3 times the original purchase price in 2009 (although Disney doesn’t even own all the Marvel rights, especially the particularly lucrative “Spider-Man” movie rights are still owned by Sony).
Even though the MCU and the ‘Star Wars’ series on Disney+ no longer seem as successful as they were a few years ago, So there is not the slightest doubt that Disney has scored two absolute hits with the studio purchases, who have not only recouped their costs a long time ago, but even many times more.
Especially after some setbacks (“The Marvels”, “Boba Fett”) with “Star Wars: The Acolyte” (record for most viewed trailer for a “Star Wars” series!) and “Deadpool & Wolverine” with Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman (Record for the most viewed trailer of all time!!!) Currently, particularly promising projects are in the starting blocks for both brands.