For anyone who grew up with George Lucas’s original Star Wars trilogy, the adventures in a galaxy far, far away were far more than just movies. Die-hard Star Wars fans wanted to immerse themselves in the fiction completely, buying all the merchandise and additional games they could get their hands on. Some even started the Jedi religion. This was the birth of the cross-media franchise, and modern movies have tried to replicate its success. Now, if Star Wars is to reach younger audiences, the franchise will have to diversify further.
The rebooted Star Wars trilogy has been extremely successful, with The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi bringing in a combined box office total of over $1.5 billion worldwide. The worrying thing for Lucasfilm is that the second offering from Rian Johnson was nowhere near as well received as the 2015 J.J Abrams picture. Even more concerning is the fact that 2018 spinoff, Solo: A Star Wars Story, bombed at the box office with a global take of $392 million against a production budget of $275 million. This means that the Ron Howard film failed to break even.
These figures suggest that the franchise needs a serious lift before the third instalment of the next episode of the main saga hits cinema screens. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is scheduled for release in December this year, but whether it will be the highest grossing film in the series remains to be seen. There are a few things working in its favour, though, including the fact that the franchise has already spilled out into other media in an effort to attract more viewers to the main saga.
Star Wars has always been ubiquitous in the game world, and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is soon to be released to get fans hyped up about the new film. The game from Electronic Arts allows players to control a Jedi knight, and it looks as though it could be one of the best offerings to date. In order to attract another breed of gamers, it would have made sense for developers to make an iGaming offering as well. There is already a Battlestar Gallactica slot game at LeoVegas. Those who want to play that can find special offers at review sites, like at Bonus Finder New Zealand, for instance. A Star Wars slot would surely attract more players, though, as it is a much more popular brand.
For people who prefer the medium of television, the new Disney+ platform is getting to set to release a live action series about the legendary Jedi, Obi-Wan Kenobi. As one of the most beloved characters in the series, it will be amazing to explore his story in more detail. Rumours suggest that Ewan McGregor will return to reprise his role as the wise member of the Order.
As long as Star Wars keeps spilling out into other mediums and there is fresh content for popular platforms, the series should continue to attract high viewing figures. There may need to be a rethink in the type of spinoff movies the creators want to release, however, as the last one was a major flop.