Urban Ag said:
This literally opens up the door to tie ins across the whole franchise. Solo/Chewbacca/Qi Ra. Maul/Crimson Dawn. Jabba/bounty hunters. Love the ideas Muck threw out.
I remember years ago some Disney exec or maybe it was Turner or JJ saying that the franchise had to have new stories with new characters set in the SW universe but completely unrelated to the OT or prequels. I don't think that should be the case at all. I mean, nothing wrong with going in new directions but why not both? R1 was/is a widely popular film that is a story we know happened, but not the details, and has familiar characters but they add value to the film but are not the foundation for it. Again, why not both?
Happy SW nerd today.
This has been Disney's plan all along.
Use the box office to drive the new stories/characters. Then use alternative means (streaming, books, games) to drive the OT/PT material. Just looking at the huge difference in ROI from TFA/TLJ compared to R1/Solo, this seems to be a smart strategy.
It also shows up in their long term investment in Galaxy's Edge. Sorry to break the news to us OT fans out there, but as a collective we are a dwindling source of income over time (think Grim Reaper). For the long haul, it's better to focus the investment on the new material. You could argue they are doing a poor job executing the ST material, but the long term strategy is solid.
But in the short (relative) time I'm still able to enjoy Star Wars...load me up with OT/PT stuff all day long!