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Zombie84 wrote:
I'm not sure what you are arguing here--that their (in)action is actually understanable?
Yes, that was the argument.
You know how much it costs to move a new LEGO set, or a Jar Jar Binks underwear package?
Those are not LFL costs. One of the problems of talking $ when it's a private company is we don't have a clear sense of where all the $ goes. For all we know there's some other new Pixar like development sucking down the cash, which convinces GL and LFL to have every project attempt to far out perform it's initial costs. High payback, since there could another dark time (late 80s) ahead. Complete guess, so don't pay this point much mind. Also corporations bloat over time, they might have so many high cost pensions to settle that... ok stretching.
The 2004 set sold $100 million in sales...in its first day of release. It's first day. Not its first week, or first year. This is the kind of return you get.
Ok the guestimate from a cnn article is 4 million 2004 copies, compared to the .22 mil 2006 copies, 18 to 1. Sounds good to me, but who knows what LFL was contemplating internally (20-1???). I would guess those profits were dumped into the Clone Wars cartoon. Getting that system up and running and able to function for a few years without any profits probably ate those DVD sales. That was one of the behind the scenes things in the Making of ESB book, how the different companies gave loans to each other to keep the main project afloat.
Most of Lucasfilm have not been there from the beginning.
Howard Roffman (Licensing) is someone from the OT days still significant part of the company. (and his holy trinity CV presentation had him stating that George was God, HR was JC and 3po (ie SW) was the Holy Spirit - /Insert shivers here/) If all the licensing is to promote the brand, then they probably believe that having scarcity of the main draw is the worthwhile path. Also since with the continually evolving digital formats, skipping one might make the next a higher draw.
Agree for the time being, there will always be a portion of the general public willing to buy these movies, and as they push the re-re-re-releases from 5-10 years you gain a new crowd of 18-30 somethings. But I also think those new crowds would not be there if it wasn't for the new content.
Well, I will give Puggo credit here because what he is referencing is Lucas' comments made at the time of the release, which basically framed it in terms of a competetion to be decided by sales.
Here's the quote:
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1531527/20060510/story.jhtml
"Lucas claims he's not re-releasing the originals to appease fans, but rather to bate them. "Now we'll find out whether they really wanted the original or whether they wanted the improved versions," he said. "It'll all come out in the end.""
Shouldn't we have a nice collection of these statements by now... I agree it's number 95 out of 100 nails in this argument. But you don't hear them saying that the movies are not getting released on 'insert next format' because of the poor sales of GOUT. They don't want to put the nail in the coffin on the originals. They've Disneyfy the movies for a generation to watch how those kids grow up with them. Might that not appeal when they grow up? The ever changing versions/modifications don't seem as a killer, as a whole remake would be. They know there is a portion of the public who's into the way they were, closing that door is not in the strategy. Plus if as you say, the next owners of the franchise did have that epiphany moment with the OT, then isn't it safe to say that 'ding dong' once the creator's dead, the OT will resurface? But I guess you all are saying that there will be another turn over, ie the Clone Wars generation will be in power of LFL when GL is gone?
*scrambling for a good come back* Also with home video releases the trend is toward content beyond the movies, sure they will always be in a lesser quality, but they'll be available, and as citizens become more familiar with working with video, making their own OT will become more common place. At some point the synergy of web and the movies will happen, another impetus to keeping the OT permanently forgotten.
The other problem with flat out obstructivism by GL/LFL is if they were to flat out stop the OT they'd be dampening appreciation of the movies themselves. "I feel the conflict within" them. They want both sides of the coin, appreciation of the story telling but also the developments in the story/creation. and you can't do that without stepping on the other.
But I also believe that the SW franchise will get crazy in the next 10-15 years as 3D printers allow anyone to print their own SW figures, thus lessening the toy licensing. In this same time the public will preserve a 35mm or 70mm version of the originals and distribute it, and the wave of lawsuits (few from LFL but mostly from other trade organizational bodies, yes the toy companies will form their own MPAA/RIAA). Will make SW a bleeker place to hang your fandom. And that's where Han Shooting First will resurface, GL's from the grave preservation turnaround to solidify some history books. Hoo Ha...
The other reason for this exercise is we've had a bunch of interjections from outside the forum, and I don't think they've gone over too well. reacquainting with the details.
T.J. Hooker has Shatner, he's always in demand.
