A peek at Disney's new "Star Wars" lands
After announcing last year that it would add Star Wars-themed attractions to several of its theme parks, The Walt Disney Company (DIS) has released artist renderings to give visitors a taste of what they can expect.
The company plans to open the Star Wars lands at California’s Disneyland and Florida’s Walt Disney World in 2019, CEO Bob Iger said on Wednesday.
The Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, will feature “a never-before-seen planet in the Star Wars galaxy,” according to the company. The 14-acre exhibit is set to be the largest single-themed expansion at the Disneyland Resort, the company has said.
Visitors will be able to take a ride on one of the best-known ships in the Star Wars Universe, the Millennium Falcon, the company said.
Disney purchased Lucasfilm, the studio that produces the “Star Wars” franchise, for $4 billion in 2012 and almost immediately started work a new series of films and merchandise. The company earned an estimated $500 million from sales of Star Wars toys in 2015, according to one analyst.
The last film in the series, “Rogue One,” opened in December. The next installment, “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” is scheduled to open in December of this year, Iger said in a conference call to discuss Disney’s latest earnings.
The company on Wednesday reported net income of $2.48 billion for its fiscal first-quarter on revenue of $14.78 billion. That’s down from income of $2.88 billion and revenue of $15.24 billion at the same time one year before.
“Star Wars” isn’t the only movie Disney is drawing on as inspiration for new attractions. Iger also announced that on May 27 the company will open “Pandora - The World of Avatar,” based on the 2009 film, at Disney World’s Animal Kingdom in Orlando.
“Our Imagineers have brought the breathtaking world of Pandora to life through astonishing feats of artistic genius and groundbreaking engineering,” he said.