Ben Child 

Star Wars: Episode VII likely to cost up to $200m, says Disney boss

Disney chairman Alan Horn suggests a price range of $175-200m for each of the new Star Wars films, starting with JJ Abrams' Episode VII next year
  
  

A man dressed as Star Wars character Boba Fett plays the accordion outside Comic Con.
Need a bounty … Boba Fett hustles for change for Star Wars: Episode VII. Photograph: Keith Bedford/Reuters Photograph: KEITH BEDFORD/REUTERS

Disney chairman Alan Horn has hinted that the new Star Wars movies will be the most expensive yet. They will cost a staggering $175-200m (£104-118m) per film.

Horn mentioned the figure in an interview with Bloomberg TV, before appearing to backtrack. "We actually don't even have the completed budget yet," he said. "But it will be in that range. These large, tent-pole kinds of movies, on the expensive side, are in the neighbourhood of $175-200m (£104-119m), that kind of a number – some are more, some are less."

"We need to give the audience, essentially, a full meal in return for their affection and devotion and love for these properties," he added. "We don't give budgets out. But it will be a big, tent-pole movie budget."

If confirmed, the budget means JJ Abrams' Star Wars: Episode VII will be on a par with the latest Spider-Man film, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, but not quite as expensive as the ensemble superhero epic The Avengers, which cost a reported $220m. The most recent Star Wars films, prequels The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, cost around $115m each a decade ago. The original 1977 Star Wars cost just $11m, around $43m in today's money.

Episode VII, which is currently shooting at Pinewood Studios and in the deserts of Abu Dhabi for a December 2015 release date, is tipped to centre on the key trio of Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia and Han Solo, played by original stars Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford. Solo's perennial sidekick, Chewbacca will likely return with original actor, Peter Mayhew, in the furry wookie suit, and the new film will also feature the diminutive droid R2-D2.

Disney is planning a new trilogy of films after purchasing all rights to the space saga in October 2012 for $4.05bn (£2.4bn). Later movies in the series will move the focus to younger characters, while there are also proposals for spin-off "origins" films featuring characters such as Yoda, Boba Fett and Solo.

 

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