Via Washingtonpost.com:

Disney chief Bob Iger recently announced his media-and-merchandising juggernaut would soon be launching one of its biggest theme-park expansions in history: A “jaw-dropping new world,” sprawled across Disney’s parks in Florida and California, exploring the Big Mouse’s newly purchased mega-franchise, “Star Wars.”

He didn’t say when the elaborate 14-acre expansions would open, but analysts agree it hardly matters. In recent years, Disney’s theme parks have set new records for attendance and profit every quarter — and the final “Star Wars” trilogy, and its big-budget side anthologies, are planned to release in theaters once a year through at least 2020.

The world is in the first hours of what Disney hopes will be Star Wars’ infinite, imaginary empire, its blockbusters and theme parks fueled by (and helping fuel) the Big Mouse’s store-conquering merchandising machine.

Even before Disney assumed control over the “Star Wars” brand in 2012, the $180 billion behemoth was the strongest merchandising force in the galaxy, with Marvel, Pixar and box-office giants like “Frozen” helping bring the company billions of dollars in revenue every year.

But with the help of the Jedi knights and decades-old grandeur of the “Star Wars” universe, analysts said, Disney has set its sights even higher, eyeing world domination of theme parks, toys and beyond, for potentially decades to come. Said Len Testa, co-author of The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World, “The canon is big enough that they can spin off stories for the rest of time.”

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