Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>Do you think Disney is hiring right now for people to help rake in all this dough?<< They're using bulldozers now.
Originally Posted By EighthDwarf I hesitate to chime into this SW love fest, but I didn't really like the movie. There were way too many obvious parallels with the original movie for my taste -- not to mention some downright nonsensical stuff. I know those were made for the die-hard SW fans, but most of them were silly to me. For example, I couldn't ever get past the fact that the empire was defeated in Episode 6 and one episode later we are all the way back to Episode 4 with the Empire (er, First Order) and the Rebellion (er, the Resistance). I mean, what the heck were the Ewoks celebrating at the end of Return of the Jedi?! Not to mention an up-and-coming jedi with a mysterious past coming from a Tatooine-like planet, a droid carrying a secret message, Han Solo being chased down by smugglers, a new death star thingy that destroys planets, a wannabe Darth Vader, and a final battle scene involving X-wing fighters destroying the death star thingy. It felt more like a re-make than a sequel to me....
Originally Posted By RoadTrip I mentioned the parallels to Episode IV in the spoilers thread as my only complaint about an otherwise excellent film. And I understand the need to do that to an extent. The fans were looking for a strong statement that this WAS the Star Wars we were looking for. I think the film stayed close to the original plot components to show us that what was coming would NOT be like Episodes I-III. Yes, it was something of a remake. But I think it forms a very solid base for the films to come.
Originally Posted By dagobert >>>Yes, it was something of a remake. But I think it forms a very solid base for the films to come.<<< I'm sure Episode VIII and IX will go into different directions. According to John Boyega (Finn) the next installment will be much darker. Episode VII was a remake/reboot, but like you said, it laid the ground work for the next movies. I think they did a fantastic job with introducing the new characters. Abrams already said that he wanted to achieve that by going bckwards to go forward. I would say the success proved that it worked.
Originally Posted By oc_dean I thought Abrams did that for Star Trek. What did he do with his second installment? He made it about Kahn. So ... are we in for "The First Order Strikes Back?" ... I effing hope not!!!! But am I correct Abrams is not doing Episode 8?
Originally Posted By dagobert >>>But am I correct Abrams is not doing Episode 8?<<< You are correct. Rian Johnson is writing and directing Episode VIII. He was responsible for the movie Looper with Bruce Willis and he directed several episodes of Breaking Bad. Colin Trevorrow is going to direct Episode IX, while Rian Johnson is writing the a first story treatment for that movie. JJ Abrams will stay onboard as executive producer.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>I couldn't ever get past the fact that the empire was defeated in Episode 6 and one episode later<< 30 years have passed between the end of episode VI and this one. The Dark Side awakened first, apparently, and rebuilt. Plus, the First Order is way different than the Empire. Casual Fridays, better health bennies, and a much more generous retirement plan.
Originally Posted By EighthDwarf "Yes, it was something of a remake. But I think it forms a very solid base for the films to come." Ok, that makes sense
Originally Posted By CuriousConstance "30 years have passed between the end of episode VI and this one. The Dark Side awakened first, apparently, and rebuilt. Plus, the First Order is way different than the Empire. Casual Fridays, better health bennies, and a much more generous retirement plan." And they put WOMEN in charge!!!!
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA <Plus, the First Order is way different than the Empire. Casual Fridays, better health bennies, and a much more generous retirement plan> I did not know that.
Originally Posted By EdisYoda <Plus, the First Order is way different than the Empire. Casual Fridays, better health bennies, and a much more generous retirement plan> And don't forget that in the hot season, the storm troopers are allowed to ware their summer armour (short sleeves and shorts). Oh yeah, and Kylo Ren dresses in white.
Originally Posted By oc_dean Been having fun watching the box office on this. Just 52 million away from the '2 Billion' mark. <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=starwars7.htm">http://www.boxofficemojo.com/m...ars7.htm</a> I bet if Leemac were around .. he'd be saying ... The company is considering it a 'soft' success - Due to cost to make it, market it, and theater take. Surely ... it's merchandise is what's going to make Disney BBBillions.
Originally Posted By dagobert Now it's official that TFA will not surpass Titanic, but I'm sure it will get to the 2 billion mark, which I think is fantastic.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>Due to cost to make it, market it, and theater take.<< Until the last week or so, I actually haven't seen a whole lot of marketing for the film. There's been the stuff in the parks, and various talkshow appearances, but most of the TV commercials were other products trying to get in on the hype (Jeep, Campbell's soup, etc). For the amount of stuff we saw on TV, Disney really didn't have to pay a lot for it
Originally Posted By ecdc >>Been having fun watching the box office on this. Just 52 million away from the '2 Billion' mark.<< Domestically it's poised to pass Snow White and enter the top ten films ever when adjusted for inflation. I would've never bet on that happening. Amazing.
Originally Posted By dagobert >>>Domestically it's poised to pass Snow White and enter the top ten films ever when adjusted for inflation<<< I'm not so sure if TFA can achieve that. Currently Snow White earned $948,300,000 adjusted for inflation, while TFA made $881,981,200 so far. It still needs about 70 Million Dollars. I don't think the US market will provide that amount.
Originally Posted By ecdc You are correct. For some reason I had the number in my head as just over 900,000,000. Maybe they adjusted it for 2016 inflation or, more likely, I misremembered. I suppose that 70 million is possible but it does seem like a long shot.
Originally Posted By ecdc Oh, it does look like they adjusted all the figures for 2016 inflation vs. 2015. I previously posted that Gone with the Wind had made 1.68 billion, but that now shows as 1.76 billion.
