That argument still doesn't hold much water. How can you go see a film, you know you loathe, that many times, even if it is labeled Star Wars? I mean, that's wasting money.
Dead Man's Chest made ridiculous amounts of money this summer. I loathed that damn film after one viewing and will never see it again. I don't go back and see something if I don't like it.
Star Wars is a cultural juggernaut, no doubt about it. But, again, it has to be enjoyable to the masses for the films to make that kind of money. The masses are what make films blockbusters, even for the franchise that have built-in fanbases (which I believe are not as big as the net make them out to be).
As much as I hate the first Spider-Man film, the masses ate it up and it made 403 million domestically. That's not just Spider-Man fans over and over again.
It's the same with Star Wars, I feel. It's gotta work, no matter the impact the Original Trilogy had.