Kenneth Feld, the CEO of Feld Entertainment – the largest live family entertainment company in the world – is famous for staging Disney live action shows around the world and has hinted that a show staring characters from the Star Wars film franchise could take to the stage in time for the 40th anniversary of the first movie in 2017.
Feld already has vast experience staging a live production containing Star Wars characters such as Darth Vader, Yoda, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia as he produced a show in Japan in 1992 called the ‘George Lucas Super Live Adventure’, which contained elements from both the Indiana Jones and Star Wars film franchises.
“It was created for Japan and never played in the US. We had very good partners in Japan and we built this huge show and it was with cutting edge technology and it worked for almost a year in Japan and did very well.
“But it was a time in the States where it would have been very difficult to move that around logistically and it [Star Wars] didn’t have, at the time, the same popularity in the States as in Japan. Since then, stuff has changed and we are constantly looking at new things and there are only so many things we can do.
With the seventh movie recently completing production and Star Wars set to celebrate its 40th anniversary in 2017, we pushed Feld on whether he would like to revisit this hugely popular franchise and whether fans will see a Star Wars Live show in the Middle East in the years to come? After all, the recent movie did film some scenes in the desert dunes outside Abu Dhabi.
“We always have plans but whether they come to fruition sometimes is different. We have a tremendous relationship with Disney over 34 years and it has lasted as there is a trust and they trust us to really present their characters with integrity and in a way that retains the quality of everything that they have built up over the years so I suspect that that relationship will continue to grow and hopefully it goes beyond the Disney and Marvel and goes into the Star Wars things… But right now, I can’t say we have anything like that. That is obviously a long term goal.”
Disney in 2012 acquired the rights to Star Wars as part of a $4 billion deal with creator George Lucas and is obviously eager to expand the franchise into its other entertainment mediums. Earlier this year it was reported Disneyland Paris, the French theme park which is part-owned by Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud, is planning to celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2017 with the opening of a new attraction based on the Star Wars series of films.
Feld first hooked up with Disney in the 1980s when he expanded his company’s circus format to include two skating shows, the Ice Follies and Holiday on Ice. These shows were initially difficult because they depended on star skaters who demanded high salaries. Feld came up with the idea to replace the celebrity names with Disney characters played by professional skaters in costumes.
“I had an ice show in America and the business was declining and I had an idea to go to Disney to see if I could license their characters for a portion of the show, a 20 minute segment. I went and presented my idea and I was told no, Disney wouldn’t be interested in that.
“Then as I was leaving the office I turned around and said what about if we took one of our shows and converted it to Disney stories and Disney characters and called it Walt Disney World on Ice and they were very interested and we worked out an agreement. The first show opened in 1981 and we are now in 2014, we now have nine of those touring companies around the world.”
While Disney may not yet have a theme park in Dubai, a Marvel them park is already on its way and is currently under construction as part of IMG Worlds of Adventure in Dubailand, which is set to open in 2015. Feld already has a Marvel Universe Live show launched and up and running and he revealed he is planning to stage this to Dubai within a few short years, bringing the popular characters such as Spiderman, the Hulk, Thor, Ironman and all the rest of the Avengers favourites.
“The larger step is Marvel Universe Live, which is a much bigger show. We have been working on the show for two years… It is going to be two and half years in the States and then I suspect it will go to Europe and maybe then to the Middle East so it could be three and half years from now [when it hits Dubai],” Feld said.
Read the full interview with Kenneth Feld in this month’s CEO Middle East magazine.
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