What next for Star Wars?
September 2018
Dave Clark
I am a bit of a Star Wars fan. It’s probably safe to say that most people who know me are already aware of this.
I became a fan 41 years ago, at the age of 4. I was lucky enough to see Star Wars when it first came to the UK at the cinema. I have mentioned before, I come from a relatively poor background, at home we had a small black and white TV, and my first visit to a cinema awoke in me a love of Star Wars that has endured. Now I look back, I am not sure how we even afforded to go to the cinema that year, it was not something often repeated in my childhood.
And this is why Star Wars, which later went on to be renamed A New Hope, has always been my favourite movie, both of the franchise, and of all time. I never got to see Empire in the cinema, I guess that year we didn’t have the money, and that is perhaps why the movie has never been my number 1, as it is for many fans.
I remember when Star Wars finally came to terrestrial TV in the UK. It was 1982. I remember seeing the TV Times (a magazine showing TV listings in the UK) and the article about this amazing movie coming to ITV (the UK TV channel). There was a competition in the magazine and I begged my mum to let me enter. Despite it being over 4 years since I had seen the movie I KNEW the answer to the mail away competition. There was a chance to win a Darth Vader Star Wars figure carrycase – full of figures. I never won, but hey, a kid has to dream!
Dave Clark
I am a bit of a Star Wars fan. It’s probably safe to say that most people who know me are already aware of this.
I became a fan 41 years ago, at the age of 4. I was lucky enough to see Star Wars when it first came to the UK at the cinema. I have mentioned before, I come from a relatively poor background, at home we had a small black and white TV, and my first visit to a cinema awoke in me a love of Star Wars that has endured. Now I look back, I am not sure how we even afforded to go to the cinema that year, it was not something often repeated in my childhood.
And this is why Star Wars, which later went on to be renamed A New Hope, has always been my favourite movie, both of the franchise, and of all time. I never got to see Empire in the cinema, I guess that year we didn’t have the money, and that is perhaps why the movie has never been my number 1, as it is for many fans.
I remember when Star Wars finally came to terrestrial TV in the UK. It was 1982. I remember seeing the TV Times (a magazine showing TV listings in the UK) and the article about this amazing movie coming to ITV (the UK TV channel). There was a competition in the magazine and I begged my mum to let me enter. Despite it being over 4 years since I had seen the movie I KNEW the answer to the mail away competition. There was a chance to win a Darth Vader Star Wars figure carrycase – full of figures. I never won, but hey, a kid has to dream!
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We returned to the cinema in 1983 to watch Return of the Jedi – quite apt now I look back. I was 10 by this time and the movie reinforced my love of the galaxy a long time ago. It was also the last time I would go to the cinema with my dad, he was dead eight months later of a heart attack. Perhaps this is why Return is my second favourite movie.
Episodes IV and VI played such an important part of my childhood and, in many ways, shaped who I am today. The movies introduced to me an entire idea of creative storytelling that went far beyond what I had seen before. The closest I had ever come to this was the Sinbad style movies that were made in the 1960s and 70s, with Ray Harryhausen special effects. And Star Wars used many of the same techniques, but managed a much higher quality output, and had similar themes; good vs evil, magicians, sword fights and princesses in need of rescue.
I didn’t have that many Star Wars toys as a child, we really were too poor, but I did dream of owning them. I remember my parents used to buy things from catalogues – as they allowed them to pay over a number of weeks, making purchases easier. I remember drooling over the Star Wars pages of these catalogues, even cutting out the pages and using drawing pins to put them up on my bedroom wall as posters. Perhaps this has cultivated my collection habit now I am an adult with a fairly good job and a measure of disposable income? Perhaps I am making up for a lost childhood dream? Today I have a couple of figures from that period and a small handful of books, my parents (particularly my dad whilst he lived) were strong advocates of literature. I still have a copy of Splinter of the Mind’s Eye that my parents got for me second hand in about 1980. That book has lived with me for 38 years now!
Episodes IV and VI played such an important part of my childhood and, in many ways, shaped who I am today. The movies introduced to me an entire idea of creative storytelling that went far beyond what I had seen before. The closest I had ever come to this was the Sinbad style movies that were made in the 1960s and 70s, with Ray Harryhausen special effects. And Star Wars used many of the same techniques, but managed a much higher quality output, and had similar themes; good vs evil, magicians, sword fights and princesses in need of rescue.
I didn’t have that many Star Wars toys as a child, we really were too poor, but I did dream of owning them. I remember my parents used to buy things from catalogues – as they allowed them to pay over a number of weeks, making purchases easier. I remember drooling over the Star Wars pages of these catalogues, even cutting out the pages and using drawing pins to put them up on my bedroom wall as posters. Perhaps this has cultivated my collection habit now I am an adult with a fairly good job and a measure of disposable income? Perhaps I am making up for a lost childhood dream? Today I have a couple of figures from that period and a small handful of books, my parents (particularly my dad whilst he lived) were strong advocates of literature. I still have a copy of Splinter of the Mind’s Eye that my parents got for me second hand in about 1980. That book has lived with me for 38 years now!
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We also never had a VHS video player (the VHS video was the precursor to the DVD for those of you who have never heard of it) so the only fix I had for the movies was waiting for them to be shown on TV, which would happen most Christmases.
In the years that followed this was the only way I could watch Star Wars. No-one ever expected George Lucas to return to the big screen with more Star Wars movies, what is now known as the Original Trilogy was (at that time) the Only Trilogy! There were a few spin off Ewok movies and TV shows, including Droids and a handful of books. But that was it. And even this dried up. As a fan, this became known as the Dark Years – a period where there was very little Star Wars about.
I grew up, as boys are wont to do, and went to college and had a part time job whilst studying. It’s fair to say that during my teenage years I devoured books, using the money I earned working in a local supermarket to feed my addiction, and in 1991 (I was 19) Timothy Zahn’s novel Heir to the Empire was released. This was the first novel set after the events of Return and it was (and still is) amazing. I still have the copy I originally bought, and it spawned an entire series of novels both by Zahn and other authors, taking the Star Wars universe forwards. During this time I was also part of a role-playing group of mates, who used to meet weekly to play West End Games’ Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game.
And that was it really until 1999, when The Phantom Menace was released. I was 26 by this time. I had met my future wife, I had graduated from uni – I was, to all intents and purposes, an adult. But Episode I took me back to my childhood of flashing laser swords and space wizards. To paraphrase Han Solo in The Force Awakens “I was home”. Yes, the movie was not as strongly scripted as the OT, but it was still good (to me at least) and the passion and heart of Star Wars was there. It had been 16 years since I had seen a Star wars movie in the cinema, and I loved it. This was followed by Attack of the Clones (2002) and Revenge of the Sith (2005). During this time there was a plethora of books, comics and computer games and I consumed as much as I could, whilst holding down a job and setting up a home with my wife.
In 2006 the first of my younglings arrived and, for a while, my personal time disappeared as we got to grips with meeting the needs of a baby, and then, in 2009 the second of our children came onto the scene. I believe that the Clone Wars cartoons had been released on TV sometime in 2008, but, for me, my young family meant that I missed this spectacular event.
In 2010 I sat down with my then 4 year old son and ‘introduced’ (began to indoctrinate) him to Star Wars. He loved it. Really loved it. Admittedly, he was of a generation who has grown up with CGI and colour TVs so, for him, Star Wars was perhaps not as ground breaking as it had been for me. But he got the story, the good vs evil and the pure excitement of flashing laser swords (something he referred to as light-savers for a number of years!). I discovered the Clone Wars cartoons about this time, and brought them to our father/son Star Wars TV time. William would watch these on repeat, and his younger brother was practically weaned on the Clone Wars. William began amassing Star Wars toys. I remember he had (still has) an AT AT that his younger brother, George, used to call ‘the Star Wars Cow’. Sharing my love of Star Wars with both of my sons was (and still is) amazing, something I cannot explain to anyone who hasn’t had the joy themselves.
In 2012 George Lucas did the unthinkable. He sold Lucasfilm to Disney. Initially I didn’t know what to make of this news. Disney cancelled the Clone Wars and disbanded LucasArts – the team behind the Star Wars computer games, and announced that all media that was not on screen would not be classed as ‘canon’. But, at the same time we were informed that a new trilogy would hit cinemas, beginning in 2015. And that the roadmap would be to make a Star Wars movie each year until at least 2019. Star Wars was back, bigger and more intensive than ever before.
In 2013 (at the age of 40) I went to Celebration Europe 2 in Essen (Germany) with fellow Jedi Council member Alex. It was awesome. Three days of Star Wars on a scale I had never seen before. And we were regaled with all manner of Star Wars news including the announcement by Dave Filoni of a new animated series – Rebels.
In the years that followed this was the only way I could watch Star Wars. No-one ever expected George Lucas to return to the big screen with more Star Wars movies, what is now known as the Original Trilogy was (at that time) the Only Trilogy! There were a few spin off Ewok movies and TV shows, including Droids and a handful of books. But that was it. And even this dried up. As a fan, this became known as the Dark Years – a period where there was very little Star Wars about.
I grew up, as boys are wont to do, and went to college and had a part time job whilst studying. It’s fair to say that during my teenage years I devoured books, using the money I earned working in a local supermarket to feed my addiction, and in 1991 (I was 19) Timothy Zahn’s novel Heir to the Empire was released. This was the first novel set after the events of Return and it was (and still is) amazing. I still have the copy I originally bought, and it spawned an entire series of novels both by Zahn and other authors, taking the Star Wars universe forwards. During this time I was also part of a role-playing group of mates, who used to meet weekly to play West End Games’ Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game.
And that was it really until 1999, when The Phantom Menace was released. I was 26 by this time. I had met my future wife, I had graduated from uni – I was, to all intents and purposes, an adult. But Episode I took me back to my childhood of flashing laser swords and space wizards. To paraphrase Han Solo in The Force Awakens “I was home”. Yes, the movie was not as strongly scripted as the OT, but it was still good (to me at least) and the passion and heart of Star Wars was there. It had been 16 years since I had seen a Star wars movie in the cinema, and I loved it. This was followed by Attack of the Clones (2002) and Revenge of the Sith (2005). During this time there was a plethora of books, comics and computer games and I consumed as much as I could, whilst holding down a job and setting up a home with my wife.
In 2006 the first of my younglings arrived and, for a while, my personal time disappeared as we got to grips with meeting the needs of a baby, and then, in 2009 the second of our children came onto the scene. I believe that the Clone Wars cartoons had been released on TV sometime in 2008, but, for me, my young family meant that I missed this spectacular event.
In 2010 I sat down with my then 4 year old son and ‘introduced’ (began to indoctrinate) him to Star Wars. He loved it. Really loved it. Admittedly, he was of a generation who has grown up with CGI and colour TVs so, for him, Star Wars was perhaps not as ground breaking as it had been for me. But he got the story, the good vs evil and the pure excitement of flashing laser swords (something he referred to as light-savers for a number of years!). I discovered the Clone Wars cartoons about this time, and brought them to our father/son Star Wars TV time. William would watch these on repeat, and his younger brother was practically weaned on the Clone Wars. William began amassing Star Wars toys. I remember he had (still has) an AT AT that his younger brother, George, used to call ‘the Star Wars Cow’. Sharing my love of Star Wars with both of my sons was (and still is) amazing, something I cannot explain to anyone who hasn’t had the joy themselves.
In 2012 George Lucas did the unthinkable. He sold Lucasfilm to Disney. Initially I didn’t know what to make of this news. Disney cancelled the Clone Wars and disbanded LucasArts – the team behind the Star Wars computer games, and announced that all media that was not on screen would not be classed as ‘canon’. But, at the same time we were informed that a new trilogy would hit cinemas, beginning in 2015. And that the roadmap would be to make a Star Wars movie each year until at least 2019. Star Wars was back, bigger and more intensive than ever before.
In 2013 (at the age of 40) I went to Celebration Europe 2 in Essen (Germany) with fellow Jedi Council member Alex. It was awesome. Three days of Star Wars on a scale I had never seen before. And we were regaled with all manner of Star Wars news including the announcement by Dave Filoni of a new animated series – Rebels.
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Over the last four years we have had 4 movies, 4 seasons of Rebels, 2 seasons of The Freemakers and 32 episodes of Forces of Destiny. We have also had dozens of novels and comic books released. We have been in, from an output perspective at least, a ‘golden age’ for Star Wars material. Disney, it appears, wants to throw money at Lucasfilm and Star Wars to make it the golden goose that lays multiple golden eggs. There was even talk of more movies, one a year through to 2030.
Then, the unimaginable happened. Episode VIII of the main saga arc of the movies received very mixed reviews. The director made choices in the movie that even OT cast members questioned. The fans were massively divided over the movie. Worse than this, a portion of the fandom actively boycotted the latest movie, Solo, at the cinema due to the perceived sins of Episode VIII, and it became the first Star Wars movie in history to reportedly make a loss at the box office. There is now talk of Star Wars fatigue, of too much Star Wars.
The brand has stumbled.
In response to this Bob Iger, CEO of Disney, accepts that he was at fault for pushing out too much Star Wars, too quickly. He goes further to say that Lucasfilm will pause and reflect on this. That projects will continue, but at a less frenetic pace.
For me, and for a number of other fans, a movie a year is not too much Star Wars. We are used to periods of sixteen years between movies. We don’t want to go back to a release calendar of every three years. We are not fatigued by Star Wars.
I agree with the sentiment of Mr Iger, that reflection might be in order, that stabilisation of the brand needs to be made, that reengagement with fans who were disappointed at decisions made in Episode VIII would be a good idea – after all, many of these fans were the ones who made the Star Wars brand worth the $4billion that Disney paid in 2012 by actively engaging with the Star Wars universe in its many guises (cinema, TV, books, comics, games, collectables).
But I, for one, do not want a hiatus of Star Wars cinematic content. I want to be transported to a galaxy far, far away on the biggest screen in the land at least annually. I would go so far as to say I would gladly watch Star Wars at the cinema multiple times a year – so long as the quality of movie is maintained. For me Episode VIII was a blip, it was the only poor quality movie so far released. Rogue One and Solo are two of my all-time favourite movies and proof that Lucasfilm under Disney can make excellent movies.
So, please Mr Iger, Bob, don’t let this hiccup mean I have to wait years between movies. Less is definitely not more for Star Wars. I know. I lived through that period where we were not certain of when the next movie would land. Focus on good content by all means, but keep the taps flowing, keep my love affair, my addiction, my passion alive.
Then, the unimaginable happened. Episode VIII of the main saga arc of the movies received very mixed reviews. The director made choices in the movie that even OT cast members questioned. The fans were massively divided over the movie. Worse than this, a portion of the fandom actively boycotted the latest movie, Solo, at the cinema due to the perceived sins of Episode VIII, and it became the first Star Wars movie in history to reportedly make a loss at the box office. There is now talk of Star Wars fatigue, of too much Star Wars.
The brand has stumbled.
In response to this Bob Iger, CEO of Disney, accepts that he was at fault for pushing out too much Star Wars, too quickly. He goes further to say that Lucasfilm will pause and reflect on this. That projects will continue, but at a less frenetic pace.
For me, and for a number of other fans, a movie a year is not too much Star Wars. We are used to periods of sixteen years between movies. We don’t want to go back to a release calendar of every three years. We are not fatigued by Star Wars.
I agree with the sentiment of Mr Iger, that reflection might be in order, that stabilisation of the brand needs to be made, that reengagement with fans who were disappointed at decisions made in Episode VIII would be a good idea – after all, many of these fans were the ones who made the Star Wars brand worth the $4billion that Disney paid in 2012 by actively engaging with the Star Wars universe in its many guises (cinema, TV, books, comics, games, collectables).
But I, for one, do not want a hiatus of Star Wars cinematic content. I want to be transported to a galaxy far, far away on the biggest screen in the land at least annually. I would go so far as to say I would gladly watch Star Wars at the cinema multiple times a year – so long as the quality of movie is maintained. For me Episode VIII was a blip, it was the only poor quality movie so far released. Rogue One and Solo are two of my all-time favourite movies and proof that Lucasfilm under Disney can make excellent movies.
So, please Mr Iger, Bob, don’t let this hiccup mean I have to wait years between movies. Less is definitely not more for Star Wars. I know. I lived through that period where we were not certain of when the next movie would land. Focus on good content by all means, but keep the taps flowing, keep my love affair, my addiction, my passion alive.