negative1 said:
but the SE versions put Star Wars back on the Map amongst consumers for
good, and the interest has never waned once since that point in time..
later
-1
Negative 1, you keep saying the SE put SW back on the map, in what context? If you are saying it got the average person talking about SW again, I would agree, but has zero correlation whether a new generation of fans will love the movies.
The Hobbit will be coming out in 2010-2011, by your definition it will put LOTR back on the map. So, yes people will all be talking about LOTR again alot more then they are now, but in the same respect, new fans will find the LOTR Trilogy in 2008, 2009, because they are great movies.
Now from a marketing view, the SE were a big success, but trust me nobody went to see the new stuff, people went for 2 reason in 1997:
1. Older fans like myself who wanted to see the trilogy one more time and to bring back memories of seeing them as a kid.
2. Young fans who grew up with them on VHS and young fans who were first being introduced to them, wanting to see them on the big screen for the first time.
Nobody went to them wanting to see the 'CG Jabba' in ANH, or the spruced up effects, people just wanted to see Star Wars again, simply because we loved the movies so much.
Trust me, Lucas could have put out the OOT in 1997 and just said, "The Star Wars Trilogy" is on the big screen one more time, and I guarantee it would have done the same business.
Now lets see how the movies did in theaters in 1997:
Star Wars: 136 million
ESB: 57 million
ROTJ: 45 million
Supposedly ESB is the most beloved by all the diehard SW fans, as that is constantly talked about as the best of the 3 movies. Why did Star Wars take in more then ESB/ROTJ combined? Because that is the most appealing of the 3 to a general audience, and that is the movie that started it all. It had nothing to do with spruced up effects, or new added scenes, it simply was the #1 movie until ET, being put on the big screen again, and everyone wanted to see it.