It won't have anything to do with the involving storyline, gorgeous cinematography, or sophisticated mythology.
Why so sure? It's not like the Original Trilogy's was all that expertly pulled off. I fully admit that my affection for this version of a classic myth comes from the fact I grew up with it. Would I have gave it as much time as I had, if not for the flashy candy coating on the outside? Maybe not. But you "always remember your first" and I look back on my introduction to this myth kindly. I think kids today will do the same.
But these kids aren't even really going to separate it into Original and Prequel. It'll just all be Star Wars. An 8 year old today isn't going to be all "OT vs PT" or whatever. It's just all going to be Star Wars to them. You have a point with Lord of the Rings, but then again, Lord of the Rings, much like Titanic before it, seems to have been very much of its time, and out of that time--it drops out of mind. All this King Kong hype, and how many people you know re-watching Lord of the Rings right now? I love those movies, I find them better than ALL of Star Wars, OT AND PT, due to their emotional depth and storytelling skill, but I haven't felt the need to throw one in the dvd player for about a year now. That sense of FUN just isn't there, and that's what keeps kids coming back to Star Wars. It takes itself seriously, but not TOO seriously.
What's fun is, once again, to look at these comments at the end of the PT, and compare them to older fans comments in 83. People then didn't think Star Wars would perservere with the younger people at the end of the whole shebang, either. And here we are.
