Disney buys Lucasfilm for $4bn, new Star Wars movie in 2015

[Jaron]

I'm sure that was very lucrative for him.

[jimmy olsen]

I'm sure that was very lucrative for him.

Ah, but you said decent, not very lucrative.

And he's been doing it for like 15-20 years now, so that must help.

[Barrister]

All those original Star Wars actors see a chance for them to pull in a decent paycheck for the first time in years. Harrison excepted, of course.

I thought I remembered hearing that all of the original actors took a small slice of the overall revenue when they signed up for the movie.  Which means they're all doing just fine.

[Sheilbh]

I thought I remembered hearing that all of the original actors took a small slice of the overall revenue when they signed up for the movie.  Which means they're all doing just fine.

I don't think so.  Apparently most of the cast thought it wouldn't do well so I think they accepted salaries.  Guinness was an exception and he negotiated himself 2% of Lucas's gross revenues

[jimmy olsen]

It was Lucas who made out like a bandit, he got a huge percentage IIRC.

[Valmy]

All those original Star Wars actors see a chance for them to pull in a decent paycheck for the first time in years. Harrison excepted, of course.

Hamil is a pretty successful voice actor.

[Syt]

Carrie Fisher did a lot of work as a script doctor in Hollywood. Not sure if this earns you much any money, though.

[katmai]

Carrie Fisher did a lot of work as a script doctor in Hollywood. Not sure if this earns you much any money, though.

Oh it can earn you a very decent amount, not to mention the bestselling books she has written.
Per variety magazine...

For Hollywood's dozen or so top-tier script doctors, that means commanding $250,000-$300,000 a week, being booked months in advance and keeping their efforts largely cloaked in anonymity.

[Josquius]

I've a friend who is very into the movie business and who's who and all that, I remember him telling me about her a few weeks back. She has worked on some pretty big films apparently and yes, is making a tonne from it.

I thought I remembered hearing that all of the original actors took a small slice of the overall revenue when they signed up for the movie.  Which means they're all doing just fine.

I don't think so.  Apparently most of the cast thought it wouldn't do well so I think they accepted salaries.  Guinness was an exception and he negotiated himself 2% of Lucas's gross revenues

But then there's hollywood economics. Those percentage of what a film makes deals  rarely work out as well as they seem on paper apparently. Lots of faulty accounting making out that blockbusters actually lost money so nobody is owed anything.

[The Larch]

It was Lucas who made out like a bandit, he got a huge percentage IIRC.

IIRC, he negotiated a much lower salary in exchange of merchandising rights, or something like that.

[celedhring]

But then there's hollywood economics. Those percentage of what a film makes deals  rarely work out as well as they seem on paper apparently. Lots of faulty accounting making out that blockbusters actually lost money so nobody is owed anything.

That's oh so true, I remember when Sony tried to make it look like Spiderman didn't have profits so they didn't have to pay royalties to Stan Lee...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2458083.stm

[celedhring]

Carrie Fisher did a lot of work as a script doctor in Hollywood. Not sure if this earns you much any money, though.

It does. Not millions, but easily 500$ for an afternoon's work. And you can get way more than that if your reputation is good enough. I had a writing teacher in film school that proudly claimed to never have written a script in his life, yet making 5000$+ every month on script consultancy.

What an absolute tosser he was, his classes were always packed though.

[celedhring]

It was Lucas who made out like a bandit, he got a huge percentage IIRC.

IIRC, he negotiated a much lower salary in exchange of merchandising rights, or something like that.

Yeah, nobody thought there was that much money in this "merchandising" thing back in the 70s so Fox was all "Toys? Yeah, you can have that".

[The Larch]

It was Lucas who made out like a bandit, he got a huge percentage IIRC.

IIRC, he negotiated a much lower salary in exchange of merchandising rights, or something like that.

Yeah, nobody thought there was that much money in this "merchandising" thing back in the 70s so Fox was all "Toys? Yeah, you can have that".

And we all know how that turned out. 

IIRC that was the main reason why Star Wars was the first film with such a massive merchandising campaign, because Lucas was directly behind that.

[Solmyr]

Darth Vader will return in the new film: http://www.worstpreviews.com/headline.php?id=26648&count=0

And apparently Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher (and probably Harrison Ford) will play aged versions of their characters.

Can't tell if  or