Lucas and Disney sign Star Wars deal

Star Wars creator George Lucas has sold his film production company Lucasfilm to The Walt Disney Company in a deal worth $4.05bn (£2.5bn).

George Lucas, who launched Lucasfilm in 1971, described the deal as his "retirement plan" and said he wanted to focus on other projects, such as philanthropy.

On signing the deal, Disney's Robert Iger said the company planned to release a new Star Wars film, Episode VII, in 2015.

That will be followed by Episodes VIII and IX, followed by one new movie every two or three years.