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The Star Wars Money Machine
Darth Cola writes " The Star Wars franchise has made George Lucas plenty rich. But his fortune is only a peice of a much bigger financial pie, one which Forbes.com estimates at just shy of $20 billion. They have a rundown of the Star Wars financial empire, and a market by market breakdown of where the money comes from." From the article: "It all started with a story treatment, handwritten in pencil on a few sheets of lined yellow legal paper. That's all that existed of the multibillion-dollar financial empire, now known as the Star Wars universe, when filmmaker George Lucas sat down in 1974 to write what, within three years, would be the biggest meteor to hit Hollywood since there's been a Hollywood."
Previous generations may have objected to commercialism but we grew up on. I'd be surprised if every aspect of Star Wars didn't get commercialized. Besides the Yoda/Pepsi ads are funny.
In the end he's now got the big studio and calling the shots. It's as though he joined the dark side to defeat the dark side.
Considering how rich George Lucas is, it's interesting to keep hearing him talk about his future projects, how he wants to make smaller movies etc.
... don't get me wrong, I like [some of] his movies and all, but I can't help but suspect that despite all his success, Lucas is just sort of a sad, isolated, lonely, messed-up old fucker.
"I've earned the right to just make things that I find provocative in my own way," he's quoted as saying. "I've earned the right to fail, which means making what I think are really great movies that no one wants to see."
I always wonder what the hell that means? Earned the right to fail? Like he wasn't allowed to fail before? Exactly how much money was he supposed to make before he could buy his way into the club of mere mortals who are allowed to fail? Kind of a strange way to approach a creative ambition, I think. What mental process must go on in Lucas's head that he has to actually give himself permission to be creative, and justify it by pointing to his past commercial successes?
In general, I'd love to see a psychological profile of George Lucas sometime. Especially considering some of the truly bizarre moral commandments he's put into his recent films (missing your mom is wrong, getting angry at things is bad and makes you a bad person, if you want to be a hero then relationships are forbidden, etc.)
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It all went south with RotJ, which was an unashamed attempt to sell as many action figures and toys as absolutely possible to kids. With PM, we saw large portions of the movie given over to selling a video game.
Star Wars nerds ruined Star Wars the same way that Trek nerds ruined Trek - by accepting any shit thrust upon them with the appropriate branding, the producers felt free to sacrifice quality in order to broaden appeal and merchandise the hell out of the product.
In both cases, we get bland crap that doesn't stand up well to the original. Greedy producers, stupid nerds... a fatal combination.
Star Wars is the ultimate franchise because even as a film it's an amlagam of marketable genres.
The original trilogy alone features:With all of that thrown together... in space... there's a little something for every geek. And market after market after market that you can sell games, toys, lunch boxes, books, clothing, artwork, women's delicates and more to.
"That doesn't make him sleazy and unscrupulous."
No, admittedly it does not.
However, I don't know how old you are, but I am 32. I barely remember seeing the orginal Star Wars in the theaters. I remember thinking it was neat, and that the people around me were totally and completely awestruck.
It was a turning point in US Cinematography, as well as Science Fiction in general. Star Trek was still dead, Galactica was camp, and out of nowhere came this shining new well crafted "Space Opera".
It was truly a defining moment for the science fiction culture, as well as a generation of filmgoers. Then came Empire. Still good, not quite as fast paced, and obviously written with sequal in mind. It also introduced us to the notion that spoilers could get your ass beat in the lobby.
Jedi was the turning point. As many have said, it took something near and dear to many, and almost religious to some, and turned it into a marketing machine for action figures.
That hurt.
As time has passed, it has become clear that Mr Lucas does not understand (or understands all too well, but does not care) how important his creation was and is to many many people.
He has changed it, manipulated his fans, and slowly bled every penny he could, and with them every feeling that it is something more than just a film, from his fan base. He refuses to release the orginal 3 movies in their original formats on DVD. Do you realize that some people actually bought laserdisc players JUST to see that!
He took something we loved, and used it against us. He has proven that the $ is all he cares about. Thats why many people feel he is "sleazy and unscrupulous."
There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order- Ed Howdershelt Via Tass
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Essentially, there are several archetypes (one could even call them "stereotypes") of the sci-fi genre that a great many filmmakers and writers have adopted for their own use. Motifs such as the villain being the hero's father, a spiritual father figure to the hero, and mystical overtones (such as the Force) can be found ALL OVER sci-fi movies and literature. Lucas was not the first to adopt them, and he undoubtedly will not be the last.
But, of course, the fact that these archetypes are being used over and over again by no means means that they cannot be used *well.* Peoples' fond memories of the original SW movies, the plot/characters of which were somewhat cliche as far as sci-fi movies go, only proves the point. Luke was the naive hero, Han the roguish "wild card", Leia the "damsel in distress", Vader the evil villain. What matters, however, is that Lucas honed each part to near-perfection, such that the characters were so believable and *human* that they didn't *seem* like stereotypes. I believe that it's this element that is sorely missing from the prequels, but that's another rant altogether!
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