Potential problems with the spinoffs, in general

I gotta agree. But if they can work these characters plot-wise, to A New Hope or any of the other movies, that will be pretty good. I mean, if you mention the Death Star to anyone, not just a Star Wars fan, they will know what it is and what the plot around it is. And if these characters are not explored further, and have little connection, I think personally all it means is it's a really big galaxy, where single moments can define a lifetime.

 

Absolutely! Let's face it, Star Wars pretty much sells itself. Not just to fans, but to casual moviegoers as well. The only real challenge at this point is that they have to make sure that TFA goes over well with audiences. Because there is definitely going to be a tendency for general moviegoers to wonder if LFL is going back to the Star Wars well too many times. I've heard a few people ask, "Didn't they finish the story already?" And that's a valid point for audiences to raise right now.

If LFL knocks it out of the park with TFA, though, then they could make the first stand-alone movie about nearly anything and people are going to come out to see it.

And IMHO, it would be very interesting indeed to see how events in the GFFA affect people with no connection to the Skywalker story. And it would mean that the franchise would be wide open to tell virtually any kind of story imaginable. I still think they ought to create an old-school detective character and make a few movies about his adventures. Or heck, what about a straight-up space pirate movie? Any classic story genre you can think of, they could adapt to the GFFA, selecting directors who had a particular affinity for whatever genre they were going for.

Yes, a Han Solo movie or a Darth Vader movie would require a bit less thought and effort behind the marketing campaign. But other than that, there's not all that much of a legitimate reason for LFL to limit themselves to spin-off movies about familiar characters. I think they're going to get good audiences for these movies regardless - as long as TFA does well.

 

Well going along with this, one potential problem with a spin-off film is when the writer parts ways with the rest of the team ;-)

 

I feel ya. I do. But child please!! As soon as TFA was announced, I wanted to see it. I'd be happy with a new GOOD Star Wars story every day if I could get it! After going for a decade without, I say open the floodgates brah!