Britain's the Place

... for new Lucasfilm blockbusters.

Another Star Wars movie will be filmed in Britain next year, U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said as he visited the set of Star Wars: Episode VII today.

The new stand-alone Star Wars movie, to be directed by Gareth Edwards and written by Gary Whitta, will be filmed at the Pinewood Studios, near London, according to an e-mailed statement from the Treasury. Star Wars: Episode VII is being filmed in the U.K.

“This will mean more jobs and more investment,” Osborne said. “I have been determined that we back our brilliant creative industries which is why we have invested in skills and training as well as providing tax relief for films, high-end TV, animation, video games and regional theater.”

Osborne has increased tax relief for higher-budget films to encourage bigger-budget productions to choose the U.K. as a location. Films made in Britain get 25 percent tax relief on the first 20 million pounds ($33 million) of expenditure, and 20 percent after that. ...

I'm not a big fan of free money getting showered on international conglomerates, but I'm a realist. We live in a fine corporatist state (and world) ruled by excellent corporate oligarchs. So of course Star Wars Umpty Ump will be getting generous subsidies. Diz Co. really, really needs them.

The Walt Disney Company is currently trading at 5 year high, passing the $84 mark on Wednesday (6/4/2014), and climbing towards $85 as of Thursday (6/5/2014). Disney had an excellent 2 quarters and the second half of the year seems just as prosperous with some major films set to be released. ...

So yeah, some free money from the state seems entirely appropriate. (This is nothing like handing money to some icky to some welfare queen; this is totally different.)

We are talking about free enterprise, after all. And the magic of the marketplace.