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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."
He sat down to write Star Wars? I thought he just made it up as he went along...
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.
The Star Wars franchise has made George Lucas plenty rich
Is that a direct quote from Jar-Jar?
"Sure there's porn and piracy on the Web but there's probably a downside too."
Star Wars Episode 0, the Quest for More Money.
Over the course of 28 years, those films and their modern counterparts, The Phantom Menace from 1999 and Attack of the Clones from 2002, have grossed $5.67 billion globally when adjusted for inflation. Assuming an average ticket price of $6.25, that would buy more than 907 million tickets to Revenge of the Sith--enough for every person in the Western Hemisphere, with the entire population of Poland included twice.
Don't forget Poland!
- sm
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.)
Breakfast served all day!
does this mean my choice of M&M's does NOT determine my fate? That it was a cheap marketing ploy?
I thought I was a badass Sith because I chose the peanut M&Ms...but it's a lie....DAMN YOU LUCAS! DAMN YOUUUUUUUUU!!!
Monstar L
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.
To quote the relevant bit:
Also, there's no point just throwing comic characters at me as if I'm saying all comics are better than film, because I'm not. I'm just saying I can blatantly see Lucas' influences and I prefered New Gods to Star Wars. (New Gods had Darkseid and the Source, Star Wars has Darth Vader and the Force. Orion is revealed to be Darkseid's son; Luke is Vader's son. New Gods had a spiritual leader/father figure to Orion called Highfather; Star Wars has spiritual leader/father figure to Luke called Obi Wan Kenobi. New Gods:1971. Star Wars: 1977. George Lucas was a comics fan. Say no more).
Sound convincing enough to me.
Cheers,
Ian
This is not the Story your looking for..
We don't need to see your replies.
George is still a regular Joe just like you..
Move along..
__________ Leave me alone I'm compiling a RPG II program on my S/36...Thanks to metamucil I'm a Regular Meta Moderator
Yoda selling Pepsi, Chewbacca on E!, Vader selling pizzas....
Did anyone think Lucas would have learned? Out of control and horrible... I'm hugging my tie-fighter from 1974 in the closet under a pile of socks. All ewoks must die.
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.
"I've earned the right to fail"
It reminds me of an engineer who said "I knew I was sucessful when I knew I could turn down clients."
I think the point is that he wants to make something that he is happy with and screw everyone else, at thats a pretty good goal to have. You don't wear your comfy pjs and sweats on the streets because of social pressure, not because you don't like the clothing.
Alot of art is peer reviewed. Your sucess or failure depends on what others say; teachers, critics, art dealers, customers. The social pressure is huge especially in a highly visible position he has.
The surprise isn't how often we make bad choices; the surprise is how seldom they defeat us.
Mad with power, that's what he is. Wrecking the greatest franchise in movie history and he still puts his kids in the movie and lets them pick the names. Gosh damnit, I can't get more mad about it. Lucas, if you can hear this, you suck.
Actually, there were quite a few more rereleases than that:
1977 - Star Wars original release
1978 - Star Wars rerelease
1979 - Star Wars rerelease
1980 - Star Wars - Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back original release
1981 - rereleases of both Star Wars (now retitled Star Wars - Episode IV: A New Hope) and Star Wars - Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
1982 - rereleases of both Star Wars - Episode IV: A New Hope and Star Wars - Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
1983 - Star Wars - Episode VI: Return of the Jedi original release
1985 - Star Wars - Episode Vi: Return of the Jedi rerelease
Note also that 1971's THX 1138 and 1973's American Graffiti were both rereleased in 1978 as well, More American Graffiti was released in 1979, Raiders of the Lost Ark was released in 1981 and rereleased in 1982, and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was released in 1984 (the only year from 1977 to 1985 that no Star Wars film got at least a limited theatrical release).
With the republicans in control, it now legal for George Lucas, or anyone else who is super-rich, to actually kick you. It was necessary as part of the war on human rights^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^h terrorism.
Avoid Missing Ball for High Score
It all started with a story treatment, handwritten in pencil on a few sheets of lined yellow legal paper.
Which looked something like this, for those of you who haven't seen it...
Here's also a small discussion on how the script evolved.
Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
The similarities with New Gods is interesting, but Star Wars also grew out of Lucas' desire to remake Flash Gordon:
... he met with the people who owned it, and they didn't take him at all seriously. So he took the Flash Gordon trailers -- the diagonal titles that talk about the universe at that point [he means the opening story synopsis that seems to recede from the viewer as it scrolls up] -- and sort of combined it with a Stanley Kubrick '2001' world and created his own 'Flash Gordon.' " Lucas says the characters of "Star Wars" are not originals but "tributes."
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mstarwar.html
Here it is, straight from Lucas' first Hollywood boss and fellow USC graduate, Francis Ford Coppola: "George wanted to do Flash Gordon
Q: What does the "B." in Benoit B. Mandelbrot stand for? A: Benoit B. Mandelbrot
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Money destroys creativity.
Probably. But most people do their best work early on, because they have something to prove. Okay, so there are exceptions, like the Beatles etc., but if you think of a lot of artists, once they become middle aged they're not exactly making ground-breaking work like they were when they began. I think they just lose the drive and mellow out with age. Plus I guess having bazillions of dollars helps ease the pain.
Incidentally, Lars is a hopeless drummer.
"When Pepsi you drink, look like mine your teeth will!"
"OH SHIT, THERE'S A HORSE IN THE HOSPITAL!"
DODONNA: The Star Wars Money Machine is heavily shielded and carries a firepower greater than half the Hollywood fleet. It's defenses are designed around a direct large-scale assault on consumers everywhere. A small indie film should be able to penetrate the outer defense.
GOLD LEADER: Pardon me for asking, sir, but what good are indie films going to be against that?
DODONNA: Well, Hollywood doesn't consider a small indie film to be any threat, or they'd have a tighter defense. An analysis of the plans provided by Princess Leia has demonstrated a weakness in the machine....The approach will not be easy. You are required to write better film and skim by on a budget of almost nothing. The target audience is a small group of people who, if enticed, will being a word of mouth campaign that will snowball until eclipses the Star Wars Money Machine and causes it to implode on itself.
A murmer of disbelief runs through the room.
With PM, we saw large portions of the movie given over to selling a video game.
If you're talking about the pod race, and the subsequent release of "Episode I Racer"...bullshit. Not only does Lucas put high-speed "thrill rides" into his movies just on general principle (the Death Star in ANH, the speeder bikes in ROTJ, the street race in American Graffiti, the climatic car chase in THX 1138), he was also making a gratuitious homage to the chariot race in Ben-Hur. [1] [2]
In Repressive Burma, it's not just your connection that dies. slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=314547&cid=20819199
Today @ 7-11 I saw Star Wars Cheetos that boasted they would turn your tongue Yoda Green or Vader Black. I doubt I would ever purchase, let along eat, a food item that made such claims. Ick.
I could not justify my existence if I were a turkey farmer. Would I terminate myself? Undoubtably, yes.
There was stagflation and high unemployment. The cold war was in full swing. The Chinese were butchering Tibetans left and right.
And don't forget the oil crises and a very tense state of affairs in the middle east.
My, how times have changed.
KFG
I don't know what the fuss is about. It's not like Star Wars merchandising has gotten out of hand.
All the problems in the Star Wars universe (at least in episodes 1-3) are being blamed on the Trade Federation and the Banking Cartel. I don't really like being lectured on the evils of capitalism by a filthy rich jerk who has made a fortune by selling franchise rights to any asshole with a checkbook.
-- Will program for bandwidth