Dorling Kindersley May Be "Forced" To Sell

Staff -- Library Journal, 1/31/2000

Star Wars, Episode I has proved to be a menace indeed for Dorling Kindersley Chief Executive James Middlehurst, who reportedly resigned January 24 following a poor sales showing over the recent holiday season. Expecting huge sales, Middlehurst ordered a whopping 13 million copies of the publisher's illustrated tie-in titles for Star Wars, Episode I: The Phantom Menace, which , however, sold only three million units, creating enough of a black hole in DK's profits that it could be "Forced" to consider possible buy-out options. A very peculiar turn of events, as the film raked in nearly a billion dollars in worldwide box office receipts, making it the second highest grossing film in history.