Star Wars Is Struggling to Win
Over the Next Generation of Kids
Bloomberg News,
by
Crayton Harrison
Original Article
Posted By: LittleHoodedMonk,
8/7/2019 4:25:20 PM
It’s hard to say this, as someone who grew up pretending to be Han Solo battling Darth Vader and his stormtroopers to rescue Princess Leia. But it must be said: Kids might not be into Star Wars anymore.
Walt Disney Co.’s underwhelming theme-park attendance last quarter was the latest sign that the intergalactic saga isn’t resonating for younger generations raised on Iron Man and Fortnite. Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger was so sure fans would be blasting through the door that he had instituted a reservation system for visitors to enter Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, the new attraction at Disneyland. It turned out not to be necessary.
Reply 1 - Posted by:
thewarden 8/7/2019 4:29:45 PM (No. 145785)
Disney ruined Star Wars. Period.
20 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
zephyrgirl 8/7/2019 4:35:56 PM (No. 145787)
Lucas should have quit with "Return of the Jedi." it had its stupid moments with the dwarf teddy bears, but still had a good plot. Lucas started the franchise on its downward slide. Disney just accelerated it. You knew it was on the ropes when they had to get Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill back on board to try to boost ticket sales.
11 people like this.
They simply over-estimated what people were willing to pay by raising the annual pass prices too much, and then restricting them for nearly 2 1/2 months during the launch, which meant you paid for 12 months but only 9 months (they blackout 2 weeks during Christmas holidays too) worth of use for the Deluxe Pass.
What they did though was allow people who paid full-ticket price, and those with the highest level of annual pass (over $1300, but includes parking) to have possibly the best Disney experience they'll ever have in their lifetime since the lines are short and minimal waiting in line. You're able to receive significant value for the day, even at the $170 park-hopper one-day ticket price.
Going on so many rides, and not having massive crowds to contend with, but that all ends in a few days when the blackout days are over, and all the annual pass holders are able to go.
6 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
couchguy 8/7/2019 5:09:45 PM (No. 145800)
I know, make the hero a 4 foot tall tranny in a wheelchair. Oh, guess they're doing that already.
3 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
chance_232 8/7/2019 5:11:59 PM (No. 145802)
Star Wars is over 40 years old. That cow has been milked for all its worth.
The last time that I was at Disney World was about 12 years ago. I dropped over $300 to spend two days at an overcrowded amusement park waiting in one line after another. Ill never go back. I refuse to fork over the sum of money they charge to wait in a line that takes several orders of 10 over the length of time that the ride lasts.
8 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
cartcart 8/7/2019 5:33:04 PM (No. 145821)
Frankly, after the first couple of movies, these began to drag along. Jar-Jar was one of worst characters ever devised by anyone. And, bringing back the original princess in a cameo role was just awful as she struggled to keep her false teeth in her mouth. The battle scenes seemed like footage lifted from the originals. And Luke, my gosh he got old and insane. Bring back the stars like Jabba the Hut! We don't bother with the last two decades of these loser movies.
5 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
NorthernDog 8/7/2019 6:22:53 PM (No. 145846)
At some point realize that it is all science fiction, and the stories are no longer anything special. If they want to do re-makes how about an updated 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Frankenstein, or Creature from the Black Lagoon?
1 person likes this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
hooter 8/7/2019 8:10:21 PM (No. 145892)
It might be a case of "get woke go broke"
4 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
bad-hair 8/7/2019 8:44:39 PM (No. 145909)
First one was fun. All the rest were just cash cows and I don't like cash cows unless it's my cow.
3 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
LadyHen 8/7/2019 9:12:26 PM (No. 145922)
fta: "So where are they going instead? One clue could be the rising attendance over at Universal Studios Hollywood, where the Wizarding World of Harry Potter saw an increase in spring-break visitors last quarter, fueling sales of souvenirs and butterbeer."
Could it be.. oh I don't know.. Disney's open disdain for its most loyal visitors?
When you unflinchingly even gleefully make it known you just don't give a rat's butt anymore about the people that come to your parks and spend money the most, the season pass holders and locals in CA and FL, and are actively trying to price them out of visiting by raising pass prices over and over, these folks get the picture and take their bucks elsewhere.
I personally hope things get much much worse and Iger gets the ax! He has made some really bad decisions that are now costing Disney billions.
3 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
GW_Rider 8/7/2019 10:17:07 PM (No. 145971)
The first three Star Wars were "the" Star Wars. Gone downhill ever since.
And Han shot first.
1 person likes this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
Lawsy0 8/7/2019 10:34:19 PM (No. 145985)
If the story line is any good, kids will love it and if not, they will leave it where they found it. My husband and I went to the first Star Wars film back when because we heard it would be too intense for our 4 year old. Curtain fell, time passed and now son is 47; he takes his kids to the Star Wars movies. The family owns the whole series to view at home, but movies with their Dad is still a cherished outing. Must be the popcorn. /s
PS: The bar scene in the original film will ALWAYS signify the Democrat Party to me.
4 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
HHFi2 8/7/2019 11:54:15 PM (No. 146015)
I'm old enough to have seen the original in theaters when it first opened. I remember coming out saying, "That was a really cool movie!" and then never giving it another thought. I don't get people who build their whole lives around it. By the time the next two came out, I was married to a woman who was a "Star Wars" nut and had to go see them. I thought the second one was good but awfully dark, and the third had good moments, but it recycled the plot of the first one and the series was definitely running out of gas. By the time "Phantom Menace" came out, I had another wife who didn't care, but we went anyway. It was awful. I remember calling it "the world's most expensive episode of 'Big Bad Beetleborgs.'" The next two I checked out free on DVD from the library and fast-forwarded past the horrible wooden dialogue scenes and pointless CGI, which meant they took about 15 minutes to watch. I haven't bothered with any since, but I hear they're still recycling the plot of the first one over and over, only with a lot of PC diversity casting and woke messages.
Bottom line: this should have ended after the first movie, or definitely after the third. If Disney spent millions on a theme park attraction patterned after the latest, worst, least popular version of this story, they shouldn't be shocked if nobody shows up.
2 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
Omen55 8/8/2019 12:10:21 AM (No. 146019)
Disney is now the Empire.
By tanking Ep IX we will blow up their Death Star.
Long Live Luke!
2 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
Trigger2 8/8/2019 2:58:23 AM (No. 146088)
I love the Star Wars movies. Nadler is the perfect stand-in for that criminal Jabba the Hut. Besides, a lot of the things in those movies are actually becoming reality. Maybe that explains why millennials aren't into it anymore. They prefer not being outed as demonrat storm troopers.
0 people like this.
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Comments:
This is hilarious and totally not unexpected. Between the "Marvel Universe" and "DC Comics", et al., Lucasfilm is lost in a story that we've all seen before, "a long, long time ago". At about the time that "Video killed the radio star", it's forced diversity today that killing "Star Wars". Bueller?