Should these films be made? Are they just a cash grab for Disney?

Episode VII needs to be made to cleanse the bad Prequel flavor out of everyone's mouth.

And there's nothing wrong with a cash grab, just as long as the quality of the product is up to previously established standards

 

First of all, Disney is not the creative team.
Companies earn money because they make investments. In this case, Disney invests in Lucasfilm and the Star wars franchise. Artists make money because they are artists, because they have ideas, they letterally love to have ideas and if a company pays great artists like JJ Abrams to have ideas, the company makes money, the artists make money and ep VII maybe becomes a great movie.
Yes, perhaps the story of Anakin has been told, but the key point is that Lucas has created an entire universe. There are other great writers, filmmakers who can tell stories in that same univers.
Is Star Wars a cash cow for a comany? Yes... does that autmatically mean that there is nothing more to tell. NO
And above all, there is always something to say, when there are people willing to listen... and Star Wars, you know, has one or two fans around the world who are begging for a sequel.

 

The great thing about the SW Saga is that it is divided up into trilogies, so you can ignore a trilogy and still enjoy the other trilogy or trilogies. That is why I don't have a problem with them making the ST, because if its forgettable then you can just forget about it.

Thinks about it, these are the possible stories for SW fans to watch:

1. Star Wars 1977: A standalone movie with an ending, where nobody is related, and the good guys win in the end.

2. 4-6: A trilogy about Luke Skywalker and the Rebels defeating the empire while Luke redeems his father from the darkside.

3. 1-6: The character arc of Darth Vader from being a kid, to growing up a Jedi, to turning to the darkside, to turning back to the good side and dying.

4. 4-9: A possible new saga, if you want to avoid the PT?

5. 1-9: The Saga complete.

 

While I agree, Jedi77-83, I have to say that even after all these years, I just can't seem to unremember the scratching of nails on a blackboard that is the prequel trilogy. Hopefully the rumors of a sanitized original trilogy bluray release are true: the blurays I have now go out of their way to remind me of the prequels, such as...the prequels are actually in the bluray box; there's ghost Hayden and Gungans celebrating the fall of the Emperor; Boba Fett's kewl voice has been replaced by Temuera's unkewl voice....shivers.

 

I do agree with you that a release of the OOT on Bluray can give us a clean break from the PT. Its makes it more ironic when you think about it because when Lucas created the SE, he actually created a new fan base of OOT fans in the process!

 

I don't think many marvel fans would complain about the films being released. And there has been quite a few. This shows that while Disney want to make as much money as they can to maximise profits they have left the producers alone to make the best films possible. Disney has released some great films over last few years thru marvel and pixer. Read all the time how talented directors/writers/illustrators even designers have been inspired by Star Wars. Now they have chance to be part of it

 

And further more George have always talk about spinoffs. (droids, wokies, ewoks, other charcters and so on)

 

Ha ha ha ha.... thats not very true about Marvel.

 

Winter soldier, Thor, iron man. guardians wasn't the most commercial choice but they did a good job on it. All pretty decent films. And Pixar don't make many bad films.

 

I was talking about the corporate men not letting the film makers & actors make the best movies they could. Jon Favreau, Edgar Wright & Mickey Rourke know this. As for Pixar they seem to be going downhill. I remember that Pixar got in a fight with Disney corporate and a high level suit got fired, in the past.

 

In this day and age, and with the way films are going, I have to disagree with the "cash grab" comment. Let me explain.

When I hear "cash grab", I associate that to "throwing absolutely anything into the market with a popular icon taped to it in an attempt to make as much money as possible". I don't get that with Disney's Star Wars ventures. I mean, yeah sure, they're a company. The main goal of this is clearly to make money. But here's the difference: it isn't the ONLY goal.

Star Wars is a franchise that's been around since Disney was flailing about in their mediocrity with pitiful attempts at film like The Aristocats and The Black Cauldron. Disney is also staffed by human beings, with their own interests and desires, and always has been. How much are you willing to bet that a large chunk - if not the entirety - of Disney's employees at the time were also enthralled by George's galaxy far, far away like the rest of the world was?

There just has to be more to the buyout than simply "it'll make us money". It's part of it, but I see it as more of a benefit than a motivator. Star Wars is a highly respectable franchise, with fans of every age and every profession, even "executive officer of Disney Inc". Why else would the studio execs at MouseHouse put so much money on the line to get the absolute best in the business? JJ Abrams, the Original Three actors, etc etc? With all the dollars being flung about on this project, and the result of the franchise's first attempt at a theatrical return, this is a HUGE risk on Disney's part. There's no way this is being done at a

So to finish up, I think this is WAY more than just a "cash grab". This is a massive love letter to a franchise that's adored the world over. Disney wanted to see more films made, so they're doing it. And I'm really excited to see where all that money is going.

 

Of course they're doing it for money. That's the reason why any movie from a big studios is made...

 

The outlines he gave Disney were recent ones, not the vague ideas he had back in the day. He started to think of a Sequel Trilogy idea and spinoffs before he sold to Disney and was already planning to direct the first one himself before they made the offer.

That said, we also know they deviated from his ideas. His story centered on younger teens (likely grandchildren of the original trio). What we are getting now could be a backstory to those ideas involving their parents. We don't know yet how much of Lucas's ideas they are using.

And yes, Disney is looking at this as a money investment, as they are with Marvel. However, they are involving people who care about the series artistically, including Kasdan and Abrams, because they know that will make them even more money in the long run as it has with Marvel. You also have Lucas's hand picked heir, Kathleen Kennedy, overseeing Lucasfilm. And like him or not, Simon Pegg is also involved as a sounding board and is a critical fan of the series who would hate a cheap vision for the series.

 

Star Wars movies are made to make money.

--- Double Post Merged, Sep 20, 2015, Original Post Date: Sep 20, 2015 ---

 

Without trying to make this a cynical ST bashing fest, here are some things that worry me about TFA and the new films.

Whilst I absolutely love the fact that they are relying on a more practical approach, I can't shake the feeling that they are overcompensating for the pitfalls of the PT by playing it WAY too safe this time around. There is barely any deviation from the OT designs in TFA from what we have seen so far. Star Destroyers, TIE fighters, X wings, A desert planet that bares a striking resemblance to Tatooine. Stormtroopers 2.0. While I love the old school feel, I can't help but look back at the design of the prequels. They were truly designs that we hadn't seen before. We had no idea what we were walking into. With TFA, I pretty much know. I feel like a lot of it is rehashing what came before. But we will see. Hopefully I eat my words.

I'm just one of those people that would rather see brand new designs and strange new worlds more than a Tatooine clone and more TIE fighters.

I'm sure that TFA will be at least a solid 7/10 film. Or it could actually top ESB and RotJ and be something that lives in the annals of sci-fi cinema forever.

But there is still, and believe me that it is still possible, there is a still a small chance that TFA and these new films can be sub par and be just another scar on the Star Wars saga. They have the ability to screw everything up and lessen the impact that Star Wars has on millions of people.

Did these new films need to be made? No, of course not. It was a cash grab by Disney. Something that Disney wanted for years. Something that they will milk and milk and milk for decades to come. We aren't entitled to new films. And really, it might have been a safer option to just leave the saga alone and let it be. But I digress.

That doesn't mean they will be bad though. If they do it right.

I'm still cautiously optimistic and will withhold serious judgement until December 18th.

 

My thoughts about this.

1. Should this movie/sequel be made? YES. The public is hungry for a new Star Wars movie. The teasers that were released online almost broke the Internet. New Star Wars toys are jumping off the shelves. The People want more Star Wars and Disney is giving it to them
2. Will it hurt the OT? NO. Lucasfilm canned all the old EU and created a team to keep the overall story consistent and congruent. This will help keep the magic of the OT intact
3. What will these new films add? A new saga and new storyline with fresh new characters bridged by seeing our favorites passing the torch
4. If Disney did not care about cheapening of Star Wars they would not be taking the care of trying to make a quality movie
5. Is about the money? OF COURSE. In all aspects of business it is all about the Benjamins. Disney is no different. However, a smart business strives for quality. That it is what drives and maximizes profits. Cheapening Star Wars will hurt the franchises profitability. Disney paid 4 billion. They are going to want to maximize their profits and creating quality Star Wars will do that. Firing Trank and pushing back that spin-off is the perfect example

As an aside. In response to the discussion in a previous post about the relationship between Pixar and Disney, that was during Eisner's reign. Iger has since improved that. The Forbes article in the issue with the Falcon on the cover discusses this.

 

I agree. Pez, Troll dolls, and monopoly are cash grab movies. Star wars isn't.

 

Well, every sequel is sort of a cash grab... every popcorn Hollywood movie is.
This is showbusiness.

Once again, Disney wants to bring Star Wars in the 21st century and make it eternal (Well, as long as the movies are lucrative).
And, I think (it will become more and more obvious when the first "Anthology" comes out), it is going back to Lucas' original vision: these are serials, Flash Gordon...
It could still be the continuation of the Skywalker Saga...

There is a whole trilogy that could be based on Anakin's legacy (Vader's legacy VS Anakin's)... And something tells me that Rey is Luke's daughter (Your father wanted you to have this).

 

Personally, I disagree that you counted the story of Star Wars as "Anakin's journey". I don't think you can limit such a franchise to that. I always thought that GL turned the saga into the story of Anakin because of how popular Darth Vader was inside the fanbase. Because you can easily tell that the original trilogy was the story of Luke Skywalker, how he became the hero he is; and the redeem of Darth Vader was actually a subplot.

There is absolutely a ton of stories, lives, people to tell; hundreds of systems to be discovered. Star Wars can go on forever. And again, personally, I think making a new trilogy is a great thing to introduce the new generation to the greates saga of all time!

And also, Disney didn't buy SW only to buy it, they definetely have to bring new stuff to the franchise - which I am quite excited about. I am satisfied with what they accomplished so far.

 

After the heartbreak many fans suffered with the prequels; it is imperative that this movie be made. They can make as many of them as they want. I'm not going to complain as long as they are made with care. Disney can make all the money they want, I really don't care about that aspect.