PT Would Star Wars be a "Dead Franchise" Had Lucas not made the PT?

So I was thinking back... Star Wars has remained popular non stop since its initial release, but it has had peaks and Valleys. I would say it was slowly losing some relevance in the early 90s, but then Lucas announced the PT, and having the Special Editions preceding them, cranked Star Wars interest back up to a fever pitch.

Now after the PT we saw interest slowing decay(which is why some questioned Disney's decision to buy LF) but it always remained huge. In 2012 after the Disney purchase and news of new movies broke interest began to rise and rise until it was a full frenzy a year ago and lifted TFA to the largest opening ever and largest domestic take by a wide margin. We are now kinda in the plateau stage Star Wars goes into during a Trilogy cycle.

But my question is where would SW be today had Lucas not reenergized Star Wars with the SEs and PT in the mid to late 90s? Would it still be huge? Would it have more of a cult following?

Just curious where you all think we would be. Whether you love the PT as movies is not the debate, I just think it is unquestionable that they greatly expanded the SW universe and made it relevant to millennials. Just like TFA made SW relevant to post-millennials or the OT introduce Gen-Xers to the Galaxy Far Far Away to begin with.

 

Even though I was a fan of the OT while growing up, I can tell you I probably wouldn't be a Star Wars fan today if it weren't for the PT. I was having a falling out with SW when The Phantom Menace hit theaters. The PT reinvigorated my fondness of SW. It made the universe of SW that much more epic.

 

I'd say so, if "dead" means something along the lines of Back to the Future.

And I'm the same as rpeugh. I liked the OT but it was the PT that made me a fan.

 

You mean, would I slowly have realized that I was still super excited about something that most of the world had forgotten about decades ago, which would've made me an ultra nerd?

Probably, yes

Thanks to GL, though, I'm still ultra hip

 

If there was no SE or PT, Star Wars would be those quaint sci-fi adventures from the 80s that people reminisced about (like Back to the Future or Ghostbusters). It wouldn't have been worth the $4 billion Disney buyout, that's for damn sure.

 

SE and PT had a major role in it, for sure. With the success of the Thrawn Trilogy and some other works, Lucas saw an opening to refuel the SW franchise and went for it. Smart decision.

 

Yeah I'm sure SW wouldn't be a phenomenon or a juggernaut like it is today without the PT. It would either end up as an old niche 80s franchise or a generic yet successful space opera from the 80s and 90s. The PT introduced a bigger galaxy with a new set of themes and paved the way for the success of The Clone Wars, Republic comics and plenty of material that wouldn't exist in the 2000s and 2010s if not for the PT. I know I wouldn't give a damn about SW if not for the PT and I would say most people my age wouldn't either.

 

The PT definitely brought it back into the public mind. There were books and comics, but the movies are what made most people fans. My only fear is that Disney will over do it and people will grow fatigued. It's kind of like how the first few Marvel movies were exciting and cool, but they honestly don't have a lot of substance.
I felt that TFA was along those lines. I'm very hopeful that EP VIII makes TFA a better movie, but I just have a bad feeling that Disney is trying to use a "Formula" to make the movies and in the long run, they will have less depth.

 

No, the Thrawn books had nothing to do with it. Fox was the one who had the idea to celebrate the 20th anniversary of ANH and Lucas took the opportunity to revisit the movies for a theatrical re-release.

 

The fanbase would definitely be more limited. I do think that the Thrawn Trilogy and following books somewhat opened the public back to Star Wars after it forgot about the series in the mid-late 1980s. However, only a limited number of Star Wars fans actually have read the EU, and most people are only in it for the films.
The PT, regardless of how good or bad it is, released Star Wars back into the public mind, and there would be not a lot of new material without it, and not a demand for new films. The SE sort of did this too, but not as much as the prequel trilogy.

 

I probably wouldn't be a SW fan myself without the PT, and most people from my generation (born in the 90s) who i know love SW are more PT- oriented. It's really a generation thing.

 

I think the Empire Of Dreams documentary is the one that credits books like the Thrawn Trilogy and the Dark Horse comic books as a way of reopening the doors for Star Wars. But Fox had a huge amount of credit, for sure.

 

This is so true. I'm a teacher and a father and most nerd wars I get into with people over the prequels are based on the fact that my son and nephew prefer the prequels to the OT, most of my students prefer the PT over the OT. Prequel haters don't get that. I saw the ANH when I was 7 and I love the OT, but i love the PT as well.

 

I saw the OT for the first time with the '97 SE screenings and loved it, but I've only considered myself a fan from since the build-up to, release of, and aftermath of ROTS. So I can relate to this notion.

 

Of course not but it probably wouldn't be as lucrative IMO and if they only started making the PT now or not at all it would always feel incomplete to me.

 

Absolutely. Disney would never have purchased Star Wars had it not been for the PT's revival of the franchise.

 

Dead without the PT? I don't think so. A continuous world-wide phenomenon without the PT? No. The PT revitalized Star Wars by bringing it back to the big screens, and by causing the EU to explode with content. Most of the most famous and well-regarded EU works were set during the PT or came out from 1999 onward.
Without the PT we likely would have a much smaller EU, little to no Anthology films, no Sequel Trilogy, and no long-running TV shows.

 

I agree that without the PT, SW would not be so nearly as popular as it is today.

 

Actually, the Heir to the Empire was released in 1991, more than six years before the SE arrived in theatres. Work on the SE and the PT only really started around 1994. I believe that even Lucas himself wasn't sure, if there was still a large enough market for new Star Wars films, and that the fact that Heir to the Empire became a best-seller helped convince Lucas he should proceed with his plans for future Star Wars films. The release of Jurassic Park in 1993 convinced Lucas, that the digital technology had finally caught up with his vision. The 20th anniversary gave Lucas a great opportunity to test the digital technology he wanted to use for the PT.

 

I just cant get into those Marvel movies and I have seen very few of them. Comic Book movies should be treated the same way that the Nolan brothers and David Goyer approached The Dark Knight Trilogy - the greatest trilogy of them all (sorry OT purists and LOTR fans). It just really seems like a lot of intensive focus and effort went into The Dark Knight Trilogy that I just dont see in Marvel movies. Its really sad that DC and Warner have tried to copy Marvel's approach. It has ruined their most recent stab with Superman. And yes I fear that SW could suffer a same fate.

 

I know. It still didn't play a part.

 

That's settled then...

 

Love the PT, but SW being a dead franchise / 80s niche is going a bit far. Lots of times, I wish there was an alternate universe to play out different scenarios to answer what if questions. In this case, we have that scenario in this universe.

Star Was (A New Hope) was released in 1997 and opened up #1. That's no small task, but that milestone was expanded.

A few weeks later, Empire Strikes back was re-released and opened #1, with ANH moving to #2. It took another Star Wars movie (not even new) to knock ANH (Not even new) off #1.

RotJ re-released a few weeks later to #1. ANH and ESB were both still in the top 10.

Would Lord of the Rings, The Matrix or Harry Potter go to #1 if re-released in the theaters today? Highly doubut it. The #2 LotR, Matrix or Harry Potter definitely wouldn't go to #1, let alone the 3rd installment. What about Star Trek: The Motion Picture? Absolutely not.

Star Wars is a franchise like no other. It may be a blockbuster franchise, but only because it created the blockbuster franchise. Sci-Fi movies were considered B movies prior to Star Wars 1977.

Disney missed a huge opportunity by not re-releasing ANH the same day as Rogue One. How many people left R1 and rewatched ANH shortly thereafter? I bet quite a few would have walked right to the ticket sales office and bought ANH tickets on the way out from R1.

Now did the Prequels help the franchise? Yes (although Prequel Deniers won't agree). Revive it from the dead. Not even close.

 

How? It was for almost a decade.

Not comparable, considering the competition and overall state of the industry.

 

Nice post. I liked the Dark Knight Trilogy except for the last one... IMO, It was terrible. Batman Begins was amazing and The Dark Knight as well, but as a whole, I just hate the last one. Bane was stupid and godawful. Again, just my option. I'm sure many feel differently. But, Overall the first 2 movies were brilliant.