tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post6770021937452001332..comments2024-03-22T19:07:21.790+00:00Comments on The Wertzone: Disney and Star Wars: An Empire in Peril?Adam Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11383677312079611311noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-90520963184858884562018-06-03T11:15:48.443+00:002018-06-03T11:15:48.443+00:00This was a great article, definitely the best I...This was a great article, definitely the best I've read on what seems to be going wrong with Star Wars at the moment. Thanks for writing this.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-80831799593646376072018-06-01T04:21:16.536+00:002018-06-01T04:21:16.536+00:00Truly independent masterful analysis here. The seq...Truly independent masterful analysis here. The sequel (7 and 8) might be too divisive among fans, but its pitfall is the lack of a masterplan.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-31647105363738850162018-05-31T14:35:51.162+00:002018-05-31T14:35:51.162+00:00I like star wars...but I'm very divisive about...I like star wars...but I'm very divisive about WHAT I like about Star wars. <br /><br />to me, Star War is:<br />- the original editions of the original trilogy (cleaning up and restoring a print is fine. Adding mid 90s CG into movies made in the 70s, isn't.)<br />- The Clone Wars Series<br />- Rebels<br />- Rogue One<br /><br />Of all the newer films, I liked Rogue One the best. I have no clue why Episode VII is basically a remake of A New Hope, as opposed to something unique (Episode I took place 30 years before A New Hope, and Episode VII took place 30 years after Return of the Jedi).<br /><br />Episode VIII really wasn't that bad. different, yes - but not bad. OK, spce Leia was a bit...enh...as was the whole mutiny subplot...but how about tha topening when Poe brought down that Dreadnought? THAt'S Star wars. Luke being different in this one compared to the original trilogy...well, look how different Obi-Wan was in A New Hope compared to the prequel trilogy. Time and isolation does things to Jedi. OK, sure it was odd that he didn't sense the conflict in Ben like he did with his father.....<br /><br />I haven't seen Solo yet...and I don't plan to (in cinemas). This has nothing to do with Episode VIII, but the fact that, to me, it looks like it adds anything 'new' to the franchise. The same can be said about Rogue One, I suppose, however that was an entirely new cast of characters and (weird CG face effects aside) none was recast or playing another version of someone - it was a new story based on a sentence of A new Hope's crawl. I'd be keen to see more spinoff movies based on or round events surrounding the main Episode movies. <br /><br />Finally, there's no 'overall plan' for the Sequel trilogy (Episodes VII - IX) like there was beforehand. I'm looking forward to seeing that Boba Fett movie by James Mangold (that's one I'd see in cinemas) as well being curious what plans they have that aren't the main Episode movies.insurrbutionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07042968205118806388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-85709418829456536512018-05-30T22:50:54.141+00:002018-05-30T22:50:54.141+00:00It does say something about the execution of a gri...It does say something about the execution of a grim ending where you can still buy into it knowing full well it will be almost entirely undone by the next movie. Which is sort of the opposite of the Disney SWs trilogy where many are divided on whether episode IX should or shouldn't undo episode VIII.<br /><br />I was at a talk at work today about the dangers of only responding to negative criticism in that it can actually shift things so that on average it's collectively worse (the same can be said for only listening to positive criticism but humans tend to skew to giving negative criticism more weight). I do wonder with all the "it's a rehash of New hope" shouting that surrounded TFA, they maybe listened too much to that and by addressing that (however you feel about TLJ it's hard to argue Rian didn't do something different/unexpected) they unwittingly created a more divisive film than if they'd just stuck with the approach Abrams used. It basically makes the internet a dangerous source for feedback on films in that a very loud group could be the minority and that by making a film for them you may actually alienate a larger group of the audience. Bioblogisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15778268441044428778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-42347536422063900742018-05-30T19:43:59.091+00:002018-05-30T19:43:59.091+00:00Agreed about Infinity War having a downer ending, ...Agreed about Infinity War having a downer ending, but it's also clearing going to be reversed and the cliffhanger will be resolved in less than one year, which I think people respond to better (like the downer-ish endings of the first two LotR movies).Adam Whiteheadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11383677312079611311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-74698649058719797802018-05-30T19:14:34.122+00:002018-05-30T19:14:34.122+00:00There are also toy sales (which have been enormous...There are also toy sales (which have been enormous, at least for the first three movies), online streaming sales, media sales (which have been huge), spin-off sales from books, and Disney's cut of the 20 million+ sales of the Star Wars: Battlefront series. Disney are also taking a cut of all Star Wars merchandising sales, including of pre-2012 material, since 2012, including remasters and re-releases of earlier video games and Fantasy Flight's massive-selling board games, RPGs and miniatures titles. All of those put Disney firmly in profit.<br /><br />For toy sales, Star Wars was credited with driving a 5% boost in sales in the global toy market (worth $250 billion) in 2015-16.<br /><br />Assuming that drive effect was motivational and only 2% was in Star Wars sales, Disney's take and profit on that would still be around $2.5 billion. That's Force Awakens toy sales only, not the latter films (which would probably have been more modest).Adam Whiteheadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11383677312079611311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-44904844863097679972018-05-30T18:56:04.041+00:002018-05-30T18:56:04.041+00:00Disney's 4 billion dollar investment has in no...Disney's 4 billion dollar investment has in no way, shape or form been repaid. The three movies released so far have made a total of about 4.4 billion dollars in the worldwide box office. They have had a total production budget of 700-800 million dollars and a total promotional budget of at least as much, as is normal for major blockbusters. Considering that studios get 50-70% of the box office gross, depending on how much cinemas take, 1.5 billion in profit would be a rather generous estimate of the profit the three films have netted. This well seems to be drying up, as current prognoses peg Solo as unlikely to do anything more than hopefully break even.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04169439014694453449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-23659539593956935252018-05-30T15:25:25.211+00:002018-05-30T15:25:25.211+00:00Infinity wars had a downbeat ending and is about t...Infinity wars had a downbeat ending and is about to hit 2 billion so I don't think it puts people off repeat viewing. But this could mean all the other factors are more important. You raise a great point that people watched infinity wars with confidence there was a plan in place to follow through and resolve.<br />I still can't rule out the possibility Abrams will undo everything Rian undid rendering it currently a bit pointless to get too attached to anything that happens. Combine that with a prequel about a known character and there is a sense it is disposable.Bioblogisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15778268441044428778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-17293827856187188722018-05-30T14:41:31.880+00:002018-05-30T14:41:31.880+00:00I never understood the Anti-SJW Element. It should...I never understood the Anti-SJW Element. It should be a noble thing to actually fight for social justice right? More representation? More casting of different types of people for a rich, complex, complicated universe? <br /><br />I'll never understand those people. Who seem to be, as best as I can tell, white males of a heterosexual inclination. <br />Ilya Popovhttp://suddentype.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-57595302960822516852018-05-29T21:52:21.586+00:002018-05-29T21:52:21.586+00:001. The EU I think could not be salvaged in its ent...1. The EU I think could not be salvaged in its entirety. It's too weird and too large. However, people generally forget (or are not aware) that the EU itself is divided in two sections: the Bantam book series consisted mostly of isolated, stand-alone novels and trilogies. Apart from a few events (Han and Leia's kids being born) there's not a large amount of tight continuity between the books. The Ace Books line, starting with the New Jedi Order, I think had to go, it was unsalvageable. As it stands, Lucasfilm junked the Old EU and then created a new timeline which...pretty much exactly replicates it, except Thrawn showed up earlier, the kids have different names and Mara Jade isn't a thing.<br /><br />2. I think I said at the end that Johnson and Benioff & Weiss should certainly be given a chance to show what they can do, just it was premature to commission a whole trilogy from each of them before there's even an idea on the table (at TLJ launch, Johnson said he hadn't come up with any ideas for his trilogy yet, which was weird).<br /><br />3. The "anti-SJW" element is something I really didn't want to get into because it was vocal but not enough to cause major problems (and much less of a thing outside the US). If it had been, both The Force Awakens and Rogue One would have suffered more for it and they didn't, and Solo (with its two white male leads and white male villain) shouldn't have done. There is an argument that the "anti-SJW" crowd made reasoned criticisms of TLJ much harder to articulate, as you had people screaming "racist" at everyone who had issues with TLJ, even the ones who loved The Force Awakens, which got kinda old fast.Adam Whiteheadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11383677312079611311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-12945810658719662502018-05-29T21:03:54.594+00:002018-05-29T21:03:54.594+00:00Excellent article, Wert. Loved reading it. Excellent article, Wert. Loved reading it. Phil Monkshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12564878588871023264noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-75856228568978755212018-05-29T20:12:43.903+00:002018-05-29T20:12:43.903+00:00Interesting analysis. I have a couple thoughts and...Interesting analysis. I have a couple thoughts and disagreements, though:<br /><br />1. Ditching the Expanded Universe canon was the right thing to do and absolutely necessary. It's not only that for every one decent EU book/comic there were ten bad to awful ones. It's also that it's all such a convoluted mess that it would be impossible to make a movie trilogy set in the EU, unless we just want them to film the Thrawn Trilogy. Which... I really don't see why anyone but the most hardcore Zahn fans would want.<br /><br />2. I'm not sure your comparison to Marvel holds up. You criticize Star Wars for not sticking with directors and their visions in comparison to Marvel... And then criticize Star Wars for sticking with Rian Johnson and giving D&D from Game of Thrones a chance. What? I'd also add that it's only been a couple years since Marvel has given their directors real creative freedom, after the success of Guardians, and we've got some great movies out of it. Before that, just about every Marvel movie after Iron Man, Avengers excepted, veered between "good, but not great" and mediocre, and directors like Joss Whedon were forced to include lots of crap so their movies could fit into an overarching storyline that only became interesting when it actually arrived in Infinity War. I think you're right that the only major differences between these franchises is fan expectations. Speaking of...<br /><br />3. You mention it, but I think your analysis seriously underplays the "anti-SJW" crowd and its hatred of the new Star Wars movies in polarizing reception of the movies. I think it also underplays the divide between critical reception, popular reception, and Star Wars nerd reception. Critics are very much liking these movies (at least TFA and TLJ), and that's because, to my mind, they don't care about some of the things nerds do in movies like this. I'm a nerd myself, but I think it's worth considering how much many of the things uberfans complain about actually matter in evaluating whether a movie is good or not.Caligula_Knoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-41220711309657011122018-05-29T19:40:00.377+00:002018-05-29T19:40:00.377+00:00High-grossing in the USA, which I amended the arti...High-grossing in the USA, which I amended the article for.Adam Whiteheadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11383677312079611311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-49022468108574304462018-05-29T17:56:05.438+00:002018-05-29T17:56:05.438+00:00"Despite this, it was the highest-grossing mo..."Despite this, it was the highest-grossing movie of the year"<br /><br />Not true. Captain America: Civil War grossed more than Rogue One.<br /><br />http://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?view2=worldwide&yr=2016&p=.htmJussinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-18473562615766629782018-05-29T15:55:10.270+00:002018-05-29T15:55:10.270+00:00Fascinating read. I've been a Star Wars nut fo...Fascinating read. I've been a Star Wars nut for as long as I can remember, I was heavily engaged with the expanded universe novels in the '90s. They got worse and worse and I saw Disney's scrapping of the whole thing as the best move possible.<br /><br />From my own point of view, Disney/Lucasfilm have released 4 great film so far, I've genuinely enjoyed all of them, and The Last Jedi especially thrilled me due to its desire to be diffeent. I seem to be a minority.LeftHanded Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09356100685489177887noreply@blogger.com