What is the Star Wars franchise?
Star Wars. Star Wars is an American epic space opera franchise, created by George Lucas and centered around a film series that began with the eponymous 1977 movie.
What is the value of Star Wars?
Star Wars holds a Guinness World Records title for the "Most successful film merchandising franchise". In 2018, the total value of the Star Wars franchise was estimated at US$65 billion, and it is currently the fifth-highest-grossing media franchise of all time.
How much money does Disney make from the Star Wars franchise?
The Star Wars franchise is one of the most successful in the world. Disney purchased the franchise from Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion in 2012. The first four films produced by Disney earned the company $4.8 billion at the box office.
Why is Star Wars so popular?
It was the first epic science fiction space adventure to be told on a grand scale. It was the first film to jump in to the marketing community. Since the first Star Wars movie was released in 1977 Lucasfilm has licensed nearly $25 billion worth of products from action figures to video games to books.
How successful is the Star Wars franchise?
Key Takeaways. The Star Wars franchise is one of the most successful in the world. Disney purchased the franchise from Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion in 2012. The success of the Star Wars franchise is due to three factors: great story, innovative marketing, and clever targeting of many demographics.
How did the Star Wars franchise become successful?
The Star Wars franchise’s success owes as much to the intangibles of creativity as to the tangible figures resulting from innovative marketing and distribution. The franchise has several innovations to its credit. Unlike other movie franchises, which release merchandising and action figures after the movie’s release, the directors of Star Wars built up anticipation for the blockbuster by releasing novels and comics before its release. For example, Alan Dean Foster, a writer, novelized Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope, 2 the first movie in the franchise, six months before the movie was released.
Why Is Star Wars Popular?
The numbers for Star Wars testify to its astounding success. Love it or hate it, the Star Wars brand is one of the most successful around, right up there with the ones for most well-known corporations. While it is difficult to quantify and delineate the exact reasons for its enduring appeal, there are some common elements that it shares with all successful businesses.
Why is Star Wars so successful?
The Star Wars franchise’s success owes as much to the intangibles of creativity as to the tangible figures resulting from innovative marketing and distribution. The franchise has several innovations to its credit. Unlike other movie franchises, which release merchandising and action figures after the movie’s release, the directors of Star Wars built up anticipation for the blockbuster by releasing novels and comics before its release. For example, Alan Dean Foster, a writer, novelized Star Wars: Episode IV—A New Hope, the first movie in the franchise, six months before the movie was released.
How many theaters were there in the first Star Wars movie?
The Bottom Line. The Star Wars movies are one of the most famous and successful film franchises ever. When the first film was released in just 42 theaters in 1977, few could have predicted that the franchise would be around decades later—much less trading hands between two huge film companies for more than $4 billion.
What are the factors that made Star Wars so successful?
The success of the Star Wars franchise is due to three factors: great story, innovative marketing, and clever targeting of many demographics.
What social media channels are used in Star Wars?
In recent times, social media has amplified the Force’s message to fans. Facebook and Twitter have become vital channels for the movie’s marketing team to connect with fans. Disney’s hefty reach runs toward its various divisions. They collaborated with each other to make the Star Wars franchise a monster hit.
What is the Star Wars franchise?
The Star Wars franchise depicts the adventures of characters "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away", in which humans and many species of aliens (often humanoid) co-exist with robots, or ' droids ', who may assist them in their daily routines ; space travel between planets is common due to lightspeed hyperspace technology. Spacecraft range from small starfighters, to huge capital ships such as the Star Destroyers, to space stations such as the moon-sized Death Stars. Telecommunication includes two-way audio and audiovisual screens, and holographic projections.
How many Star Wars movies are there?
The Star Wars film series centers around three sets of trilogies, the nine films of which are collectively referred to as the " Skywalker saga ". They were produced non-chronologically, with Episode s IV – VI (the original trilogy) being released between 1977 and 1983, Episode s I – III (the prequel trilogy) being released between 1999 and 2005, and Episode s VII – IX (the sequel trilogy), being released between 2015 and 2019. Each trilogy focuses on a generation of the Force-sensitive Skywalker family. The original trilogy depicts the heroic development of Luke Skywalker, the prequels tell the backstory of his father Anakin, while the sequels star Luke's nephew, Kylo Ren .
What is the Force in Star Wars?
Through training and meditation, those whom "the Force is strong with" are able to perform various superpowers (such as telekinesis, precognition, telepathy, and manipulation of physical energy). The Force is wielded by two major knightly orders at conflict with each other: the Jedi, peacekeepers of the Galactic Republic who act on the light side of the Force through non-attachment and arbitration, and the Sith, who use the dark side by manipulating fear and aggression. While Jedi Knights can be numerous, the Dark Lords of the Sith (or 'Darths') are intended to be limited to two: a master and their apprentice.
How many eras are there in Star Wars?
The Star Wars canon fictional universe spans multiple eras, of which three are focused around each of the film trilogies. The following eras were defined in January 2021:
How much is Star Wars worth in 2020?
In 2020, its total value was estimated at US$70 billion, and it is currently the fifth-highest-grossing media franchise of all time.
When was Star Wars first released?
Star Wars in print predates the release of the first film, with the November 1976 novelization of Star Wars, initially subtitled " From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker ". Credited to Lucas, it was ghostwritten by Alan Dean Foster. The first "Expanded Universe" story appeared in Marvel Comics ' Star Wars #7 in January 1978 (the first six issues being an adaptation of the film), followed by Foster's sequel novel Splinter of the Mind's Eye the following month.
When did Marvel Comics publish Star Wars?
Marvel Comics published a Star Wars comic book series from 1977 to 1986. Original Star Wars comics were serialized in the Marvel magazine Pizzazz between 1977 and 1979. The 1977 installments were the first original Star Wars stories not directly adapted from the films to appear in print form, as they preceded those of the Star Wars comic series. From 1985 to 1987, the animated children's series Ewoks and Droids inspired comic series from Marvel's Star Comics line. According to Marvel comics former Editor-In-Chief Jim Shooter, the strong sales of Star Wars comics saved Marvel financially in 1977 and 1978. Marvel's Star Wars series was one of the industry's top selling titles in 1979 and 1980. The only downside for Marvel was that the 100,000 copy sales quota was surpassed quickly, allowing Lippincott to renegotiate the royalty arrangements from a position of strength.
Overview
Other media
From 1976 to 2014, the term Expanded Universe (EU) was an umbrella term for all officially licensed Star Wars storytelling material set outside the events depicted within the theatrical films, including novels, comics, and video games. Lucasfilm maintained internal continuity between the films and television content and the EU material until April 25, 2014, when the company announce…
Premise
The Star Wars franchise depicts the adventures of characters "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away", in which humans and many species of aliens (often humanoid) co-exist with robots (typically referred to in the films as 'droids'), who may assist them in their daily routines; space travel between planets is common due to lightspeed hyperspace technology. The planets range from wealthy, planet-wide cities to deserts scarcely populated by primitive tribes. Virtually any Earth bi…
Films
The Star Wars film series centers around three sets of trilogies, the nine films of which are collectively referred to as the "Skywalker Saga". They were produced non-chronologically, with Episodes IV–VI (the original trilogy) being released between 1977 and 1983, Episodes I–III (the prequel trilogy) being released between 1999 and 2005, and Episodes VII–IX (the sequel trilogy), being released between 2015 and 2019. Each trilogy focuses on a generation of the Force-sensit…
Television
The Star Wars franchise has been spun off to various television productions, including two animated series released in the mid-1980s. Further animated series began to be released in the 2000s, the first two of which focused on the Clone Wars. After Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm, only the later CGI series remained canon. Eight live-action Star Wars series will be released on Disney+. The first, The Mandalorian, premiered on November 12, 2019 and won the 2020 Webby …
Fictional timeline
The Star Wars canon fictional universe spans multiple eras, of which three are focused around each of the film trilogies. The following eras were defined in January 2021:
• The High Republic: The era of the "High Republic", set 200 years before the prequel trilogy. It includes the media released in The High Republic and the upcoming Young Jedi Adventures and The Acolyte.
Themes
Star Wars features elements such as knighthood, chivalry, and Jungian archetypes such as "the shadow". There are also many references to Christianity, such as in the appearance of Darth Maul, whose design draws heavily from traditional depictions of the devil. Anakin was conceived of a virgin birth, and is assumed to be the "Chosen One", a messianic individual. However, unlike Jesus, …
Cultural impact
The Star Wars saga has had a significant impact on popular culture, with references to its fictional universe deeply embedded in everyday life. Phrases like "evil empire" and "May the Force be with you" have become part of the popular lexicon. The first Star Wars film in 1977 was a cultural unifier, enjoyed by a wide spectrum of people. The film can be said to have helped launch the …