Come to the dark side…Mickey?

There are few movies that stand the test of time. Star Wars is one of them. The six films

that director George Lucas released are must-watches, so much so that they are almost an adulthood “right-of-passage.” Apparently, Disney thought so too. Recently, Disney decided that it was high time for another Star Wars adventure to begin.
         
This is a very risky decision for Disney. The entire Star Wars franchise has been on the societal popularity decline for quite some time now. Most avid Star Wars fans would agree that Star Wars Episodes One, Two, and Three were not nearly as impressive as the earlier produced Episodes, Four, Five, and Six. Some attribute this to the acting, the addition of unnecessary characters (our “favorite” Gungan Jar Jar), and many other aspects which degraded the overall reputation of the Star Wars franchise.
         
Despite all these factors, Disney must see potential. Their plan for making sixth, seventh, and eighth movies has fans everywhere trembling with uncertainty.

Fans could be in store for a world of disappointment should Disney botch this next movie. With fans already on the edge with the past three movies, they will be wary of these new movies. The largest reason that people fell in love with Episodes Four, Five, and Six was for their believable and engaging feel. When they were being made, little of today’s movie editing technology was available to them. Therefore, having to physically make most of the settings and props, the movies carried with them a feeling of realism that made you feel as though you were part of the adventure. Because we can assume that Disney will continue to use CGI and modern filming techniques, unlike the film in 1977, it would be fair to suggest that fans may still feel the same way about these new films as they did for Episodes One, Two, and Three.

However, it is important to note that Disney does have a keen eye for potential. After buying the Marvel franchise, Disney proceeded to invest in the production of the summer blockbuster, The Avengers. By recognizing this potential, Disney was able to rake in one billion dollars. While they are taking a risk, it had paid off once; might as well try their chance again.

So what does this all mean? We should plan for the seventh episode of Star Wars to be a box office smasher, or at the least, a medium grossing movie. Fans will certainly  go to it on opening night, but if after that, if it does not receive positive reviews, movie-goers everywhere will return to watch the original films instead of watching their favorite childhood franchise fall into the pit of ruined classics.