CATCHING FIRE Writer to Pen Upcoming STAR WARS Trilogy for Disney

Michael Arndt, the Oscar-winning writer behind THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, and TOY STORY 3, is set to pen the upcoming STAR WARS trilogy for Disney, Deadline reported today.

LucasFilms signed Arndt earlier this year to discuss potential storylines in order to move the franchise forward. The collaboration was the “pretty extensive and detailed treatment for what would be the next three movies, the trilogy,” Disney CEO Bob Iger said during the company’s acquisition of LucasFilms on October 30. 

Driven by a tremendously talented creative team, Lucasfilm’s legendary Star Wars franchise has flourished for more than 35 years, and offers a virtually limitless universe of characters and stories to drive continued feature film releases and franchise growth over the long term. Star Wars resonates with consumers around the world and creates extensive opportunities for Disney to deliver the content across its diverse portfolio of businesses including movies, television, consumer products, games and theme parks. Star Warsfeature films have earned a total of $4.4 billion in global box to date, and continued global demand has made Star Wars one of the world’s top product brands, and Lucasfilm a leading product licensor in the United States in 2011. The franchise provides a sustainable source of high quality, branded content with global appeal and is well suited for new business models including digital platforms, putting the acquisition in strong alignment with Disney’s strategic priorities for continued long-term growth.

The Lucasfilm acquisition follows Disney’s very successful acquisitions of Pixar and Marvel, which demonstrated the company’s unique ability to fully develop and expand the financial potential of high quality creative content with compelling characters and storytelling through the application of innovative technology and multiplatform distribution on a truly global basis to create maximum value. Adding Lucasfilm to Disney’s portfolio of world class brands significantly enhances the company’s ability to serve consumers with a broad variety of the world’s highest-quality content and to create additional long-term value for our shareholders.