More than 40 years later, is Star Wars going through its worst popularity crisis to date?

Without the star wars saga Western pop culture of the last 50 years cannot be understood. A cultural phenomenon that translates into a multimillion-dollar license that He doesn’t seem to be having a good time.. But is Star Wars really going through a crisis? Is this just a bad streak? Since its birth in 1977, Star Wars has been much more than just a movie saga. It has been a cultural phenomenon that has left an indelible mark on society and has forever changed the way cinema is made and viewed. However, in recent years, it has been questioned whether the franchise is going through its worst crisis in more than 40 years.

A constant but irregular phenomenon

Star Wars has had a profound impact on the world of cinema, pioneering the creation of expansive cinematic universes and the use of revolutionary special effects. The first film established new standards in narrative and technologyand making the most recognizable elements of its mythology symbols recognized around the world. On the commercial front, Star Wars has been a real money-maker. The franchise has generated billions of dollars in revenue through the sale of merchandising and licenses. From toys to video games, books and more, Star Wars-related products have been enormously popular among fans, making the saga a gold mine for George Lucas and its licensees.

However, despite its initial success, Star Wars has seen ups and downs in popularity over the years. After the release of the original trilogy, the franchise went through a period of relative dormancy in the 1990s, only to re-emerge with the release of the prequel trilogy in the late ’90s and early 2000s. Longtime fans have seen them. We have all lived through it and we know that after the Original Trilogy the fandom lived through dark times for years, in which Star Wars seemed to barely survive in the form of comics, novels and some video games. Star Wars once again regained its popularity thanks to the premiere of the Special Editions in cinema and the release of the sequels.

These three new films generated very divided opinions and after a very strong initial commercial impact, where it seemed that There was not a single surface on which an image of Darth Maul could not be printed., jar Jar Binks or R2-D2, the saga seemed to disappear again from the focus of attention of the general public, surviving, again, thanks to secondary products such as the excellent animated series. Once the Disney Era began in 2012, the Lucasfilm has gone to work at a frenetic pace so that every year we have many interesting Star Wars news. Has it resulted in an increase in the popularity of Star Wars and the revaluation of the license or has the market been oversaturated with low-quality products? In more than 40 years there is an opportunity to alternate bad streaks with good streaks.

It is a complicated situation that depends on many factors, but I would like to highlight two mainly. The first of them is that the perception we have in Spain It is not the same as what is in other countries. Spain is a territory that, although it has a group of very loyal fans, in general it is a territory in which this type of cultural phenomena does not seem to take root easily. But, tell it to Star Trek fans, For example. Nobody escapes that The phenomenon The Mandalorian It was something extraordinarya very special product, designed for a majority audience who do not have to be a passionate Star Wars fan to enjoy the series, but who It arrived in very specific circumstancesin times of pandemic and as the spearhead of the catalog of the recently released Disney+, and which in just a few years has ended up losing the great general interest that it enjoyed at its premiere.

The false social bias

Another very important factor is social networkswhich, as in other more important areas at a social or political level, magnifies polarization and a series of thought tendencies that do not have to be real. Massive negative opinions about certain products they sank its launch even months before its premiere. Each one draws their own conclusions, but many Star Wars premieres have faced a biased opinion widespread before reaching the public. The amplification, echo and rebound effect of these types of virtual social phenomena has affected many Star Wars projects in development. And, for example, the reception of Star Wars Episode 8, The Last Jedi, and its perception on social networks has influenced the development of subsequent products in the saga, starting with Episode 9, The Rise of Skywalker, and taking ahead other premieres such as the Han Solo solo film, which did not begin to be claimed until its release in physical formats and streaming platforms.

And if the behavior of social networks is especially virulent and divisive, the more among Star Wars fans in recent yearswhere the algorithms and mysterious gears that work behind these platforms end up amplifying certain opinions that prevail over others. simply because they have a greater diffusion, which translates into a greater draft. There is also no shortage of those who point out dark agendas and conspiracy theoriess of all kinds but, to what extent is that a real thing? Star Wars adapts to the times and evolves, as viewers, culture, societies and the world evolve. Fortunately.

Star Wars is for everyone

There has never been so much offer, so varied and so focused so that all types of fans can find something that resonates with them. And with an overview of the license it could not be clearer that Star Wars is for everyone. That does not mean that Lucasfilm and Disney have always gotten their management right. Perhaps one of the mistakes in Disney’s management of the license is having been more attentive to controlling this type of virtual rejection. that to maintain a continuous and coherent line for Star Wars projects, which has translated into the release of products that were perhaps too improvised and with an eye toward pleasing the greatest number of viewers possible, instead of presenting a solid product capable of defending himself before the spectators.

Another problem is that, paradoxically, Lucasfilm has not wanted to abandon its most veteran fans and has presented series and films designed for the most enthusiastic of this galactic mythology, and that they drink from an inherited universe to which the majority public is completely alien and who faces characters and situations that he neither knows nor has to understand. I turn to the team of specialists and friends of The Rancor Pitmy favorite Star Wars podcast, to find out what the experts think. Jose Miguel Ramon sees a clear crisis linked to economic inflation, to which Star Wars is no stranger, which immediately translates into people consuming less. For him, the general perception is that when there is no premiere poster in theaters or a big premiere on Disney+, it seems that Star Wars is missing, when fans know that it still has a pulse: “Star Wars in culture, it is a feeling, it is a hobby and it is something that goes beneath the veins. “It’s not a doll on a shelf, not a movie, not something temporary.”

Something more optimistic is Paco Villaaware that the film releases of Star Wars work at the box office no matter how bad the releases are, a machinery that despite the failures, does not stop preparing sequels and continuations despite the collection or reduction of profits associated with mercha. Your partner George’s Angel has good sensations, and without numbers on the hand, it also relates merchandising as a thermometer with which to take the temperature of the phenomenon from Star Wars. Take, for example, the re-release of Star Wars Episode I, an indicator that Disney and Lucasfilm continue to trust the brandeven with a film as mistreated as that one that has even managed to find a place on the Spanish billboard, a complicated country for Star Wars as I mentioned before, and which was something that just a week ago was unthinkable even for the most optimistic fans.

The fact that there has never been so much and such a variety of Star Wars products is a good indicator of its popularity worldwide. The counterpoint puts it Benjamín Bruña, fosero and also leader of the project specialized in collecting Polyplastic addictsexplains to me that “after the boom of the sequels, or after the nostalgia aroused by Episode VII, the interest on the part of the general public has weakened a lot. The first season of The Mandalorian and its circumstances contributed to a mirage that has been fading with the following series and products”. Our own and beloved Alberto Pastor, tells me that the perception that things are not going well in Star Wars comes to him from fans like me, perhaps more involved in the current affairs of the saga and the related fandom, who comment that there is less passion than before. “The saga is still there, its fans are still many, but perhaps we are less enthusiastic than we should be, this being one of the most prolific eras of Star Wars. Because Never before have we had so much material to talk about month after month“.

I participate in this climate and I am aware that the general public has disconnected from Star Wars news because it has not been able to tune in to the most recent products. But I think we are living in a magical moment, only surpassed with the time of the original film’s release in 1977. I am convinced that Star Wars is something that transcends specific episodes of darkness. It has happened before and it will happen again, because I believe that Star Wars is not going away. Now may be adverse times for the rebellion, and for the fans. Maybe, I insist, because I never dreamed that I would live a moment in which film premieres will be interspersed with several big-budget annual series. Living the -galactic- dream.

“George Lucas has brought us something precious to care for and pass onfriendship, family and friends, from a galaxy far, far away”, as Jose Miguel tells me. How can I not believe in it if I myself am a witness to the phenomenon? I believe that Star Wars has a promising future, because there will always be people willing to let yourself be fascinated by their values ​​and their adventures, ready to dream of distant galaxies, because Star Wars is an enduring phenomenon.

In 3Dgames | No, Boba Fett’s first appearance was not in the Star Wars Holiday Special, it was in a parade in a town

In 3Dgames | More than one will have been surprised to see that George Lucas is going to receive the Palme d’Or in Cannes, but there are plenty of reasons to give it to him

In 3Dgames | George Lucas sued Battlestar Galactica for plagiarizing and stealing Star Wars materials, and rightly so