Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), a second- largest video-game publisher, reached a multiyear agreement with Walt Disney Co. (DIS) to emanate games formed on “Star Wars” characters after Disney pronounced it would stop creation them itself.

Under a agreement announced yesterday, Electronic Arts, formed in Redwood City, California, gains a right to rise new “Star Wars” titles for diversion consoles, computers and mobile devices. Disney will “retain certain rights to rise new titles within a mobile, social, inscription and online diversion categories,” a companies pronounced in a corner statement.

The deal, terms of that weren’t disclosed, expands on an existent agreement Electronic Arts (EA) had with Lucasfilm Ltd. to permit “Star Wars” characters for an online multiplayer pretension for personal computers called “Star Wars: The Old Republic.”

Disney in Oct concluded to buy Lucasfilm in a money and batch understanding valued during about $4.05 billion, adding to franchises it already owns including Pixar and Marvel. In April, it pronounced it would shiver LucasArts, a San Francisco-based game-making bend of Lucasfilm with a devise of chartering other companies to make “Star Wars” games rather than rise them internally.

“Our agreement unlocks a whole new destiny of ‘Star Wars’ games that will camber consoles, PCs, tablets, mobile and more,” Frank Gibeau, boss of Electronic Arts’ Labels unit, pronounced in a blog posting yesterday.

Electronic Arts rose as most as 2.8 percent in extended trade after climbing 1.9 percent to $18.29 during a tighten in New York yesterday. Disney, formed in Burbank, California, rose reduction than 1 percent during a tighten to $65.06.

To hit a contributor on this story: Cliff Edwards in San Francisco during cedwards28@bloomberg.net

To hit a editor obliged for this story: Anthony Palazzo during apalazzo@bloomberg.net

Here’s a other shoe dropping after new Star Wars owners Disney shuttered LucasArts, a video diversion writer that had been behind a infancy of games associated to George Lucas’ Star Wars franchise. At a time of that proclamation — that enclosed laying off some-more than 150 employees — Disney pronounced it designed to use a chartering model. EA already has worked in this business before, formulating Star Wars: The Old Republic.

BURBANK and REDWOOD CITY, Calif., May 6, 2013 — The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) and Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) currently announced a new multi-year disdainful chartering agreement to rise and tell globally new games formed on Star Wars characters and storylines.

Under a agreement, EA will rise and tell new Star Wars titles for a core gaming audience, travelling all interactive platforms and a many renouned diversion genres, while Disney will keep certain rights to rise new titles within a mobile, social, inscription and online diversion categories.

“This agreement demonstrates a fasten to formulating peculiarity diversion practice that expostulate a recognition of a Star Wars authorization for years to come,” pronounced John Pleasants, Co-President of Disney Interactive. “Collaborating with one of a world’s premier diversion developers will concede us to move an extraordinary portfolio of new Star Wars titles to a fans around a world.”

“Every developer dreams of formulating games for a Star Wars universe,” pronounced EA Labels President Frank Gibeau. “Three of a tip studios will perform that dream, crafting epic adventures for Star Wars fans. DICE and Visceral will furnish new games, fasten a BioWare group that continues to rise for a Star Wars franchise. The new practice we emanate might steal from films, though a games will be wholly strange with all new stories and gameplay.”

Financial terms of a agreement were not disclosed.

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The Force is now with Electronic Arts.

The second largest videogame publisher has sealed down an disdainful multi-year understanding to furnish “Star Wars” games for all platforms.

Deal comes a month after Lucasfilm laid off many of a growth and prolongation staff during LucasArts, that oversaw “Star Wars” and other games.

While Disney has pronounced it will concentration many of a interactive business on games for mobile apps and amicable networks like Facebook, “Star Wars” is being treated as an wholly opposite animal.

New games will be formed on “Star Wars” characters and storylines for what a companies call “a core gaming audience” — which, in this case, means mostly group in their 30s.

Disney will keep certain rights to rise new titles for a mobile, social, inscription and online diversion categories directed during younger auds. First games will expected be prepared someday in 2015, around a recover of J.J. Abrams’ “Star Wars: Episode VII.”

“This agreement demonstrates a joining to formulating peculiarity diversion practice that expostulate a recognition of a ‘Star Wars’ authorization for years to come,” pronounced John Pleasants, co-president of Disney Interactive. “Collaborating with one of a world’s premier diversion developers will concede us to move an extraordinary portfolio of new ‘Star Wars’ titles to a fans around a world.”

EA isn’t new to a “Star Wars” franchise.

It published BioWare’s “Star Wars: The Old Republic,” a massively multiplayer online role-playing game. It was a many costly diversion constructed when it launched in 2011, with a $150 million pricetag, though has struggled to beget a vast fanbase. It has given embraced a free-to-play indication rather than rest on monthly subscriptions.

Although financial terms of a understanding were not disclosed, Disney clearly found a gamemaker fervent to bombard out a large chartering price to secure a “Star Wars” authorization and assistance grow a business that’s struggled in new years.

LucasArts warranted only $55 million mostly from a “Star Wars” titles, according to NPD. Last month, LucasArts pulled a block on “Star Wars 1313,” while “Star Wars: First Assault” was canceled before that. Deal enables Disney’s interactive group to concentration on other internally grown tentpole titles like a arriving “Disney Infinity,” that mixes toys with normal videogame-play.

DICE and Visceral will furnish new games, while BioWare will continue to concentration on “Star Wars: The Old Republic,” pronounced EA Labels boss Frank Gibeau. EA’s website already is seeking “Star Wars” fans to advise ideas for new games. “We have lots of ideas, though we wish to hear from you,” it said.

DICE is best famous for a work on EA’s “Battlefield” franchise, that competes with Activision’s “Call of Duty” games, while Visceral is behind a sci-fi fear array “Dead Space.”

“Every developer dreams of formulating games for a ‘Star Wars’ universe,” Gibeau said. “The new practice we emanate might steal from films, though a games will be wholly strange with all new stories and gameplay.”

Merida, a sweet, eccentric princess from “Brave,” will strictly join a Disney Princess Royal Court on Saturday.

Translation from Disney-speak: Merida is about to get her glam on.

Off-the-shoulder gown. Eye-liner. Lipstick. Wild red curls tamed into saturated voluptuous locks. A decorous countenance extended by her new, fuller lips.

• Beth Kassab

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This is a Kardashian-ization of a Disney Princess.

It can be pointed (Rapunzel) or it can demeanour like cosmetic surgery. Cinderella now looks strangely like Taylor Swift, while bad Belle — we can’t confirm if she looks some-more like Kim, Kourtney or Khloe. (Look for a princess print gallery during OrlandoSentinel.com.)

Bottom line: When it comes to a animation selling images Disney uses to sell products — all from toys to garments to makeup — a princesses frequency resemble a characters we know from a movies.

As a mom, we wanted to know dual things: Why is this function and what can we do about it?

I incited to Peggy Orenstein, a author and cult favourite among moms who can’t mount that everything in a girls’ aisle during Target is possibly pinkish or princess.

“It’s sad,” Orenstein pronounced of Merida’s makeover. “I don’t know since they had to do that to her.”

Actually she does know. At least, she has a theory.

Disney is a master during capturing preschoolers. The 5-and-under set is like Play-Doh in a hands of a rodent marketers.

They also wish to reason on to those girls during 8, 15 and beyond. So a diva peculiarity gets amped up.

Disney usually launched a new makeup line. Last year high-end shoe engineer Christian Louboutin denounced a Cinderella potion slipper with crystals, what looks like a 6-inch heel (no consternation those boots came off when she ran from a ball) and Louboutin’s signature red sole. And there’s Disney’s line of princess-inspired marriage gowns.

The princess thing is no longer a little-girl phase.

“I’m watchful for a Snow White coffin to come out,” pronounced Orenstein, whose book “Cinderella Ate My Daughter” examines what a princess enlightenment does to a littlest girls.

She’s kidding. But we wouldn’t put it past them.

Disney took honeyed Merida and done her into a Gothic siren. Merida is a usually one of Disney’s 11 princesses who doesn’t finish adult with Prince Charming in a end. She bucks tradition by refusing to let her relatives marry her off.

That doesn’t meant she isn’t feminine. Or that she isn’t pretty. You can be flattering while holding a crawl and arrow. It worked for Katniss Everdeen.

But she didn’t fit a princess template. In a film Merida indeed looked like a teen that she’s ostensible to be, and she didn’t wear makeup. Instead of descending into a prince’s arms she starts to delight her attribute with her mother.

Is it any consternation moms desired this movie? Now, though, Merida has left sultry.

Disney apparently skeleton to use a animation selling picture on several products.

That matters since those are a images we buy and move into a homes. And a made-over picture sends a summary that Merida is improved when she’s glammed up.

What’s a annoyed mom to do?

Orenstein likes to contend “fight fun with fun.”

For example, if we buy your daughter a Cinderella costume, chances are she’ll use it to fake she’s Cinderella. But if we buy her a square of silk, she can use it as a princess dress or any series of other yarn games. She’ll use her imagination some-more and parrot Disney tract lines less.

Or, as Merida competence contend in her Scottish brogue, give your daughter a possibility to “change her fate.”

bkassab@tribune.com

When Chief Executive Robert Iger opens a Walt Disney Co. (DIS) post-earnings discussion call to questions late Tuesday, he won’t be asked again to transparent a $4 billion he spent in 2009 to acquire Marvel Entertainment. Or, during least, he shouldn’t be.

The skyscraping $175 million domestic box-office take for a opening weekend of “Iron Man 3” was exceeded usually by a prior Disney-Marvel recover “The Avengers,” that went on to collect $1.5 billion in sheet sales globally.

The latest “Iron Man” installment had already pulled in as most abroad as it is estimated to have grossed in a initial North American weekend in theaters. At a stream trajectory, a latest Robert Downey Jr.-Gwyneth Paltrow save-the-world-through-cool-technology film should strech $1 billion in tellurian box office.

“Iron Man 3” is a final Marvel-inspired film lonesome underneath a pre-existing placement agreement with Viacom Inc.’s (VIAB) Paramount Pictures – an arrangement that Iger wanted to get past urgently adequate that he concluded to compensate Paramount a guaranteed cost in 2010 for “The Avengers” and “Iron Man 3” so Disney could take control of both films’ marketing.

A large payday

Paramount was in line to acquire 8% of worldwide sum for distributing “The Avengers”‘ and 9% for “Iron Man 3.” Disney concluded to buy Paramount out of a understanding for $115 million, that was expel as an allege on those placement fees, with Paramount earning a full 8% and 9% cost if box-office sales surpass threshold levels. If “Iron Man 3” does finish up earning $1 billion, Paramount will get $90 million in total, or $32.5 million some-more than a smallest pledge pragmatic in a buyout deal, by one analyst’s estimate.

Disney is usually too happy to compensate this fee, since it means “Iron Man 3” is a larger-than-anticipated blockbuster and it gives a association a conduct start in embedding Marvel into a placement platform. This also hands Disney full selling control and intensity cost synergies with other releases.

Given a exile success of a “Iron Man” authorization – formed on what was once deliberate a extrinsic comic-book favourite – it’s conspicuous that Iger took a bit of feverishness from Wall Street for a cost he paid for Marvel.

Because “Spider-Man” is spoken-for underneath a long-term understanding with Sony Corp.’s (SNE) Sony Pictures, analysts were uncertain Marvel betrothed adequate bankable characters around that to bottom years-long slates of cinema and their attendant sell tie-ins. “The Avengers” and “Iron Man” have silenced a doubters. On a approach are another “Thor” design and “The Avengers 2,” that will go wholly to Disney.

Farwell to a “boy problem”

The Marvel understanding – along with last year’s $4 billion merger of Star Wars creator Lucasfilm and a continuation of a “Cars” authorization – has also put to rest what used to be deliberate Disney’s “boy problem.” The huge success commencement in a 1990s of Disney’s Princesses line of characters, along with Disney Channel hits such as “Hannah Montana,” left a company’s business lopsided in a instruction of immature girls.

Iger, who is set to retire as CEO in 2015, leaves a party groups distant some-more offset by patron gender, while a wire business all though owns masculine eyeballs by a ESPN networks.

All this, of course, is good accepted by a market, and Disney faces a comparatively high bar to transparent when stating a mercantile second-quarter results. The Wall Street accord for per-share gain is 77 cents a share, adult from 75 cents foresee for a entertain during a start of a year. Estimize.com, that crowd-sources estimates from buy-side professionals and other investors, and has tended to be some-more accurate than sell-side consensus, is display an 80-cent expectation.

Disney shares, meantime, are during an all-time high. And during above 18-times expected 2013 profits, shares are valued during a reward to Disney’s Big Media peers, that themselves trade during abounding multiples of gain after years of marketplace outperformance. Disney is substantially a highest-quality media hulk formed on a cable-business brew and a irreproducible inlet of a impression set.

Along with peers such as Time Warner Inc. (TWX), Disney is proof a value of exclusive content, display an ability to get paid for it in a digital universe and posterior a trained use of capital. All this is now taken for postulated by investors, who on Tuesday will no doubt grasp for insights about ESPN ad-pricing and income approval rates; a predestine of streaming-service Hulu.com (partly owned by Disney); and a opinion for branch around a video-game business.

Even if they won’t griddle Iger on a anticipation of a Marvel deal, investors will positively need to hear some sum on Disney’s subsequent act in sequence for a batch to keep working.

Disney will news a Q2 mercantile 2013 gain on May 7, and a concentration will be on a impact of ratings pressures on broadcasting business opposite a expansion in chartering and associate fee. Close to 55% of Disney’s value comes from wire networks and another 10% from a broadcasting network.

The association has thrived on ESPNs success, and we design it to continue to do so in a deficiency of clever competitors. For a final integrate of quarters, a sports programming hulk has faced vigour on a ratings, yet has managed to equivalent it with aloft ad pricing.

Overall, we feel that given Disney’s code strength, successful franchises and marketplace presence, a expansion will find support from aloft associate fees, chartering and syndication. Additionally, we design a parks resorts business to do good on a behind of an improving economy.

See a finish investigate for Disney

ESPN Will Continue To Fuel The Growth

Disney will continue to see support from expansion in ESPN’s revenues. The sports network constitutes roughly 40% to a company’s value, according to a estimates.

We guess that a network brought tighten to $11 billion in revenues for Disney in 2012. These embody revenues from primary ESPN channel as good as a other sister channels, such as ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNEWS, ESPN Classic and ESPN Deportes. ESPN has tighten to 100 million subscribers in a U.S., that is a box for many of a large wire networks. However, ESPN’s constant value lies in a high cost per subscriber that it charges for a sports programming. This volume has augmenting from an estimated $3.65 in 2008 to $5.05 in 2012. The chronological expansion has resulted from multi-year programming contracts that mention annual cost increase, postulated high direct for sports programming, rising sports programming costs and ESPN’s marketplace heading position. Going forward, a expansion in a subscription cost is approaching to delayed due to vigour from pay-TV use providers and approaching foe from NBC and Fox Fox who are formulation to launch national sports networks to contest with ESPN.

Ratings Pressure On Broadcasting Will Act As Offsetting Factor

The viewership for a U.S. broadcasting networks is disappearing and Disney’s ABC is no different. This physical decrease is being fueled by a recognition of wire programming and augmenting foe from choice video platforms such as Netflix, Amazon and others. Unlike broadcasting networks, a lot of wire networks concentration on sold genre, so formulating a constant spectator base. We design this trend to continue and act as a pivotal offsetting cause for CBS CBS’ broadcasting income growth. According to investigate organisation Magna Global, a altogether ad commitments for TV’s upfront marketplace for a stream year could boost by 2%. While a ad sales for a broadcasting networks will decrease by 2%, wire networks will see a expansion of 5% in their ad associated revenues.

The list next shows a viewership change for a biggest broadcasting networks in a U.S. for a stream season.

We guess that ABC Network’s normal viewership has declined from 3.7 million in 2007 to small underneath 3 million in 2012. This is not something that ABC can't repair. Disney has done some acquisitions in new years, essentially catering to a film business. However, a association could potentially precedence these acquired franchises or take impulse from them and deliver well-scripted programs on ABC Network. The network seems to be doing good among women aged between 18 and 34, yet it could enhance a interest to other demographics by introducing applicable programs.

Parks Resorts Will Show Strength

We design continued alleviation in Disney’s thesis parks resorts business shred driven by a improving economy, race expansion and Disney’s investments.

Theme parks are deliberate as a end for convenience activity, and therefore a assemblage is rather tied to a state of a economy and transport tourism. Consumers are some-more approaching to transport when a economy is in a improved state and discretionary spending is some-more viable. Even yet a U.S. mercantile liberation has remained sluggish, a alleviation is still there and that bodes good for a company.

One of a critical trends conversion a expansion of thesis parks attention is a judgment of park-within-a-park. Disney and a competitors have been investing to emanate mixed themes inside their parks. In further to this, Disney has also invested in record ascent and other services to urge caller experience. Last year, Disney stretched and done some changes to a Magic Kingdom thesis park in Florida that were directed during shortening a wait time for business and augmenting altogether sales. According to an estimate, Disney competence have spent tighten to $300 million on this makeover. Such investments are required to expostulate assemblage growth. They also yield Disney an event to bond with consumers in a improved approach and cross-market other association products. Disney can foster movies, sell consumer goods, foster TV programming as good as online and other games by a thesis parks.

Our cost guess for Disney stands during $56.50, implying a bonus of 10% to a marketplace price.

Understand How a Company’s Products Impact a Stock Price during Trefis

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The Walt Disney Company ( DIS ) is slated to
report a second-quarter mercantile 2013 formula on May 7, 2013, after
the marketplace closes. In a final quarter, it posted a positive
surprise of 2.6%. Let’s see how things are moulding adult for this
announcement.

Growth Factors this Past Quarter

Revenue gains during a Parks and Resorts business and strong
performance of a Media Networks multiplication continue to boost the
company’s financials. Disney stays focused on a core businesses
to emanate long-term expansion opportunities. Further, new affiliate
deals have helped boost a company’s profit.

Earnings Whispers?

Our proven indication does not conclusively uncover that Disney is
likely to kick gain this quarter. This is since a batch needs
to have both a certain Earnings ESP (Read: Zacks Earnings ESP: A Better Method ) and a
Zacks Rank #1, #2 or #3 for this to happen. This is not a case
here as we will see below.

Zacks ESP: ESP for Disney is 0.00%. This is
because a Most Accurate Estimate stands during 77 cents, that is in
line with a Zacks Consensus Estimate.

Zacks Rank #2 (Buy): Disney’s Zacks Rank #2
(Buy) lowers a predictive energy of ESP since a Zacks Rank #2
when total with 0.00% ESP creates warn prophecy difficult.
We counsel opposite bonds with Zacks Ranks #4 and #5 (Sell rated
stocks) going into a gain announcement, generally when the
company is saying disastrous guess revisions momentum.

Stocks that Warrant a Look

Here are some other companies we might wish to cruise as our
model shows they have a right multiple of elements to post an
earnings kick this quarter:

Campbell Soup Company ( CPB ), Earnings ESP of
+1.79% and a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy)

JJ Snack Foods Corp. ( JJSF ), Earnings ESP
of +0.90% and a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy)

Dish Network Corp. ( DISH ), Earnings ESP
of +1.89% and a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

CAMPBELL SOUP (CPB): Free Stock Analysis Report

DISNEY WALT (DIS): Free Stock Analysis Report

DISH NETWORK CP (DISH): Free Stock Analysis
Report

JJ SNACK FOODS (JJSF): Free Stock Analysis
Report

To review this essay on Zacks.com click here.

Zacks Investment
Research

Heading into a mercantile second entertain gain proclamation on Tuesday, Disney shares are trade around an all-time high, adult about 50 percent over a past 12 months. With analysts flourishing increasingly confident this quarter, and a infancy of analysts rating a association a “buy,” a large doubt is either a media hulk will kick expectations as it did final quarter, promulgation a batch even higher.

Disney’s biggest and many essential division—media networks—will be in a spotlight. New carriage deals for ESPN, are approaching to pull revenues higher. Still, investors will have a penetrating seductiveness in how promotion is faring during a networks. Disney’s also been investing in a parks division, so investors will be looking for margins to start growing.

This entertain a studio, bolstered by “Oz: The Great and Powerful,” faces easy comparisons to a year-ago entertain when large bill “John Carter” bombed. Perhaps even some-more critical than this past quarter’s films, are a stream quarter’s, including “Iron Man 3,” that non-stop final weekend with a second biggest U.S. box bureau entrance ever—$175 million. Though Disney never gives central guidance, analysts are certain to examine on a discussion call for some denote of how a film will boost a bottom line in a company’s mercantile third quarter.

The force is clever with EA. Or it will be shortly enough.

Electronic Arts and The Walt Disney Corporation announced on Monday a new, multi-year chartering agreement, permitting EA to rise and globally tell games formed on Star Wars, each nerd’s favorite authorization (Trekkies aside, that is).

“The sorcery of Star Wars is interwoven into a worlds, characters, planets and extraordinary battles. It is a star that lends itself ideally to gaming,” pronounced EA Labels President Frank Gibeau in a blog post. “Our agreement unlocks a whole new destiny of Star Wars games that will camber consoles, PCs, tablets, mobile and more.”

As we might remember, Disney acquired Lucasfilm final autumn for a whopping $4 billion, bringing into a overlay all of a company’s properties — including LucasArts, a now-defunct gaming studio which Disney close down a few months after appropriation Lucasfilm.

LucasArts was in a midst of building a series of Star Wars titles when it was shuttered, including Star Wars 1313 — a Boba Fett-focused diversion currently in limbo — and Star Wars: First Assault. Disney pronounced during a time it would instead be chartering a Star Wars properties out to other studios.

DICE and Visceral, dual EA-operated studios, will start to emanate new Star Wars games “spanning all interactive platforms,” while BioWare — a studio behind dual of EA’s many renouned Star Wars games — will also continue to rise games from a renouned franchise.

Disney, a association said, will continue to reason certain rights for building mobile, amicable and tablet-based Star Wars games.

“This agreement demonstrates a joining to formulating peculiarity diversion practice that expostulate a recognition of a Star Wars authorization for years to come,” pronounced John Pleasants, co-President of Disney Interactive, in a statement.