| haxxiy said: Domestic only, though, which makes the original trilogy uniquely strong in this comparison since it grossed 50% - 60% there. But even adjusting for inflation makes up for a poor metric since that takes into account average ticket price, but blockbusters nowadays are so much more oriented toward full price weekends, premium screenings, 3D etc. than the average. Either way, I think the point I made on the other thread stands - the franchise is demographically stagnant for decades and thus increasingly less relevant to pop culture worldwide as population grows and the middle-class expands on Asia and elsewhere (that's not to say, of course, interesting things like fads or popular memes can't happen with Star Wars in the future even if it continues down this path). |
It's true that cinemas have more revenue-enhancing gimmicks than they did in the days of the original or prequel trilogy - but bearing in mind the numbers involved, I think the worst that Disney can be accused of is failing to reverse the damage that Lucas did with the prequels, rather than somehow causing the franchise to sink to new depths (well, aside from Solo of course).
And to be fair, demographic stagnation is a problem a lot of long-established franchises are facing nowadays. Star Wars has actually done pretty well to have held up as long as it has for the past 42 years. Of course, it's possible for a franchise to re-invent and revitalize itself, but doing that with Star Wars is probably going to be a lot harder than it was with, say, James Bond or Star Trek.
