Why no "Episode VII"..?

This is not spoiler related because it has nothing to do with the plot, but it does speak to the production and marketing of the movie.

So far, we haven't seen any officially released logos or marketing material calling this movie "Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens" and I am find it very conspicuous in its absence.

NOTE: Yes I know some of the people making this film have called it Episode VII in tweets, and I know there is a big "VII" on the production building in (I think) Pinewood, but I'm talking the official logos shown on starwars.com and, of course, the closing title shot of the just-released trailer.

So what's up with that?

 

Perhaps it isn't following episode 6? I'm wondering like you...

 

They're probably trying to get away from the episode numbering (which people associate with the prequels,) and back to the episode titling (which people associate with the OT,) because as we all know, the prequels had nothing in them worthy of emulation.

 

It's just a marketing decision on their end. Roman numbers become cumbersome and, frankly, confusing for a lot of people (and also not confusing for a lot of people, I get that!). It's much easier to market the film as simply Star Wars: The Force Awakens than to have to fit Episode VII into everything. They'll still put "Episode VII" in the crawl, and it's still Episode VII in the saga.

Proof: the trailer uploaded to YouTube by the official Star Wars account includes "Episode VII" in the description:

 

Really? 5 + 1 + 1 is too confusing for some people? I honestly think it is more confusing to establish a certain naming scheme for 6 movies and then suddenly stop. I know those of us in here study every detail, but the casual movie goer won't know off the bat where this fits in within the saga. It can also easily add confusion once when start seeing the spin-offs. The casual movie-goer may lost track of main saga versus spin off movies, especially when you consider they are making 5 new movies in the next 5 years or so (maybe more, depending on delays).

I think people in this forum lose track of the fact that not everyone follows this quite as closely as the rest of us.

 

The actual number 7 isn't confusing for people - when was the last time you saw a roman numeral higher than 5 outside of the Super Bowl? It's clunky, and the movie is easier to market without it.

No one's going to lose track of this amidst all of the other movies, since they're still using Episode VII, it's just not up front and center 100% of the time.

 

Probably the same reason why digital clocks are more popular than analog; people want an immediate answer, and Roman numerals make them think.

 

Yeah, I definitely think this is a 'back to basics' move...after all, we always called Episode V "The Empire Strikes Back" long before the numbering thing was established. Maybe we should have considered "Episode VII" as a sort of placeholder until we finally got a title.

 

I'd say to distance it from the previous Saga, though DarthWilliams makes good points.

See, the decision was made to make Star Wars into Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope in 1979 or 1980 (I forget which). With numbering continuing into Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, having an Episode I-III was pretty important, and made things explicitly clear. But when continuing with a sequel, numbers aren't as important. Besides, the Saga was its own self contained story for years with George affirming that there was no story after, so just having numbers sets it apart from that era.

Even though it isn't always marketed as such, the numbers are still important to the films; remember that Disney has big plans for spin-offs, but the main series carries the distinction of being an episode number.

EDIT: TheYodaPagoda pretty much answered it. Empire Strikes Back (as well as Jedi) was never marketed as Episode V, but was always intended to be numbered. That just kinda simplified things back in the day. Plus, it gave way to that cool logo.

 

Like I said.... I think people in here forget that not everyone follows these things as closely as we do. For example, if you gave me the titles of the 7 Harry Potter books/movies (and yes I know there were 8 movies but I am only counting the last 2 as one), I'm not sure I could put them in the correct order without looking it up - and I say that as someone who has seen some of those movies. So 6 years from now, where there are 11 Star Wars movies out there, it could easily be something the casual fan loses track of. I don't see that as a good thing.

I see roman numerals all the time. The Big XII, the stations of the cross, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, every single movie credit closing with the year of production, many clocks, government buildings, contracts.

 

I think they may want to lessen the distinction between the saga installments and the spin-off installments -- kind of, it's all Star Wars -- but I agree with you. I think it could become confusing for casual fans. The spin-offs aren't chronological like the Avenger films. They're going to skip all over the place -- middle-aged Obi-Wan, a rumored Mace Windu spin-off, maybe a Yoda film before the PT etc. As it is, casual fans are already going to have trouble with the film chronology, and leaving off the episode numbering makes it even harder. In fact, just today I saw some comments in the youtube comments section underneath the SW: TFA trailer where people were asking when this episode occurs -- before I or after VI. I also think changing it is a little disrespectful to GL who created the format (would adding "Episode VII" really hurt the bottom line that much?), and it's just another example of a dumb "from the top corporate" decision to distance Ep. 7 from the PT when leaving off Ep. 7 from the title wouldn't achieve that at all.

 

The Reverse of the United States Great Seal...

 

The prequels had Episode numbers in large part to emphasize the fact that they came before the OT story-wise. When the OT movies were originally released, as others have said, they were only marketed as "Star Wars: Name" (including for ANH once it gained the Ep 4 and ANH in the re-release). But they all contained their respective Episode numbers in their opening crawl and official name, and that will be the same for TFA.

 

Now that's very one sided with the Prequels.

 

Lol watch it be something as simple as Bob Iger saying "hey gaiz let's make people think the spinoffs are the next episodes so more people will come see them"

 

On the other hand, de-emphasizing the VII may send the message to a new audience that you don't need to have seen the previous six films to see this one.

Disagree. After all, the original films did not include "Episode __" in the title.

 

Who's this Luke Skywalker guy? What's he talking about over his father? What are they talking about, some old emperor or something? What the hell is an aluminum falcon?

 

The original films weren't marked by number, even though TESB and RotJ included the roman numerals as part of the official name in the opening crawl during their initial releases. With the prequels, there was a heavier emphasis on the numbers because, as prequels, the numbers were more relevant. We know what IV, V, and VI entail, so with I, then II, and then III, each time a film was released we got the feeling that we were coming closer and closer to finishing up the story, connecting the dots, bridging the gap. The originals and, now, the sequels, are building up to the next film with each installment, but the prequels were doing that and building up to three films that already exist.

The official title is Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens and that is most definitely what is going to appear on the crawl, it is just being branded more predominantly by its title at the moment, just as the originals were.

 

We don't know with any certainly that there will even be a crawl.

 

It's highly unlikely that there won't be a crawl lol. I can pretty much guarantee that it will exist and include "Episode VII" in it

 

There is a crawl, and "Episode VII" will be in the crawl. LFL has confirmed that with reporters.

 

Nobody in hollywood marketing and studios likes numbers, especially high numbers, in mainstream blockbusters anymore. It's mostly just "Movie: Subtitle". Hell, the titles "Iron Man Three" and "Amazing Spider-Man 2" are practically throwbacks. The number 7 can sound daunting to some random person who wants to watch it but then thinks "argh, I have to watch 6 more movies before this? To hell with that!" (Throws Episode VII DVD back into 5 dollar car wash bin). now if that same person sees the DVD without the numbers, hey, it's Star Wars. I'll check it out!

That too. Someone could be like "Ahhh! A Star Wars movie!" and then think that"Star Wars: Boba Fett's Big Damn Adventure" is a sequel to "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" so they buy a ticket. Couldn't pull that trick with "VII" in the title.

 

A lot of people just don't understand Roman numerals. I remember how sequel titles really started to shift around 1989 and 1990. Before that, mostly goofy comedies had numbers instead of Roman numerals. I was looking at something with someone, looking for a date on it and he couldn't read "MCMLXXXII". I learned the basics of Roman numerals when I was small, around that time, when I would watch movie credits and see the date, but that comes from having parents who point out that sort of thing.
But yes, there are a lot of so-called casual viewers, even people various ages who consider themselves fans to some extent and know the names of characters and watch The Clone Wars and buy toys who really don't care which movie is which. "The one in the snow", "the one with the ewoks", "the one where they swing across." It's all the same to them, and ultimately, it's all the same at the box office.
But yes, I like the return to emphasizing the title over the numbers and it helps that the title isn't awkward or cringe-inducing like The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones. Also remember that prequels or even the word "prequels" weren't common when Episode I came out. I first heard it associated with Psycho IV: The Beginning in 1990.

 

I can understand someone not knowing MCMLXIV, but anyone who doesn't understand V and I is too stupid to worry about their opinion.

So you think it is preferable to mislead and confuse casual fans? Can't say I agree there.

 

I don't say I prefer it but Disney / Lucasfilm marketing sure as hell would!