9 replies to this topic

[Toxteth_OGrady]

http://movieweb.com/...fice-worldwide/

[sharpshooter]

I'm not surprised or bothered. The Star Wars saga has very wide appeal, from young children to adults. I'd say it's more mainstream than Bond as well, especially with the many video games, comics, novels and toys constantly keeping the brand alive and in the public consciousness. When you add in nostalgia, it all equals big box office numbers.

Personally, I'm a very happy Star Wars fan these days. I've greatly enjoyed The Force Awakens and Rogue One. The comics are consistently good, and Battlefront for PS4 is simply fun to pick up and play. The Rebels TV show has value, and I'm eager for Episode 8 and the other spinoffs. The future of the franchise is busy and bright, so good on them. The brand is far from idle.

[SecretAgentFan]

Same here.  I love both.

[sharpshooter]

Thing is, if Star Wars remained at just six films, or even three, it would've been enough to ensure its continued fandom long into the future. But now with Disney buying the rights, the franchise is well and truly off the chain. It's now an ongoing series like Bond - not a contained story with a beginning and an end. And I think the brand deserved that. The Star Wars universe is so rich and interesting to just fade away cinematically. Bond on the other hand seems to be going in the 'special event' category with a film roughly every five years.

[SecretAgentFan]

True - unless the next Bond actor will not be reluctant to actually be Bond and instead demand a steady flow of pictures / income.  Although I enjoy Craig as Bond absolutely, I do believe that Brosnan would not have asked for so much downtime between pictures.

 

As for STAR WARS - it will be interesting to see how they can expand that series beyond the next trilogy.  Starting a new trilogy immediately after Episode IX would feel weird (to me), so it´s basically a string of stand-alone films.  And what happens if one of them will underperform?  IMO, STAR WARS worked so well because of the original trilogy and its cast.  THE FORCE AWAKENS - despite its great new characters - was basically Han Solo´s film.  The next one will, I suspect, be Luke Skywalker´s film.  But even if the new cast will be the principal players in that one and the last one, I don´t think they will generate as much enthusiasm.  The prequel trilogy did not either.

 

The Bond films, while unashamedly sticking to the same formula again and again, work because of its main character.  The STAR WARS films will have a big hole to fill once this current trilogy is over.  I think that ROGUE ONE, while being very entertaining, is basically riding the wave of good will that THE FORCE AWAKENS has created.  But how long will that work out?  The YOUNG HAN SOLO film will definitely work because of that main character.  But can Disney really wring out that concept into another trilogy?  And will even that become stale sooner or later?

[Hockey Mask]

Rogue One was an awesome movie. Disney knocked it out of the park.

[Professor Pi]

Shouldn't The Force Awakens count towards Bond due to a certain storm trooper cameo?  

[saint mark]

I really like both franchises and the latest movie from the SW universe somehow seem to be able to rekindle the greatness of the original three movies. Whihc sadly I cannot say for the 007 franchise who with the last three movies went steeply downhill. I do not mind SPECTRE and Blofeld, the real arch enemy is really Mendes.

[jaguar007]

These articles never count inflation and the change in box office tickets into account. Bond sold the most BO tickets in the 60's where you could go see a movie for $1.00 a ticket v/s almost $10.00+ dollars today. Of course you still have to take into account that tickets were about $3.00 in 1977 when Star Wars first came out.

[Professor Pi]

Bond will eventually overtake Harry Potter, but Star Wars and the MCU are accelerating into the stratosphere.  Bond is one character, with one movie every 3-4 years now.  Star Wars is giving us a movie a year, and the MCU is now up to 3 per year.  But, if you limit those franchises to one character--Iron Man, Skywalker, Thor, Captain America--Bond still comes out on top.