Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (USE SPOILER TAGS!)

[aiman04]

Originally Posted by JMS1223

A few questions/thoughts on Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens

Since this film is expected to be huge, do you think it will surpass Avatar for Domestic and International Gross at the box office? I know this won't matter to most people, but I am curious if most people are expecting this to be the case or if it will just gross a lot like the prequels did.

Also, do most people think this film will be better than the prequels? Or even better yet, do most people expect it to be on par with the original trilogy?

I noticed with the merchandise so far very little features Luke, Han Solo or Princess Leia. I wonder if that means they will only be in the film briefly like Leonard Nimoy was in Abrams' Star Trek. If that is true, I am not so sure I like that because I would much rather have more of them than new unfamiliar characters. But that is just me.

Either way, if I decicde to go see this, I want it to be good and not a repeat of what is oike the prequels.

Both Anthony Daniels and Drew Struzan have said The Force Awakens will be the best Star Wars ever. So to them it will not just be on par with the original trilogy, but better than A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. An extremely high bar to set. So get your expectations up!

[wormraper]

Originally Posted by JMS1223

A few questions/thoughts on Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens

Since this film is expected to be huge, do you think it will surpass Avatar for Domestic and International Gross at the box office? I know this won't matter to most people, but I am curious if most people are expecting this to be the case or if it will just gross a lot like the prequels did.

Also, do most people think this film will be better than the prequels? Or even better yet, do most people expect it to be on par with the original trilogy?

I noticed with the merchandise so far very little features Luke, Han Solo or Princess Leia. I wonder if that means they will only be in the film briefly like Leonard Nimoy was in Abrams' Star Trek. If that is true, I am not so sure I like that because I would much rather have more of them than new unfamiliar characters. But that is just me.

Either way, if I decicde to go see this, I want it to be good and not a repeat of what is oike the prequels.

I have a suspicion that this one will be a record breaker of epic proportions

[JMS1223]

Originally Posted by aiman04

Both Anthony Daniels and Drew Struzan have said The Force Awakens will be the best Star Wars ever. So to them it will not just be on par with the original trilogy, but better than A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. An extremely high bar to set. So get your expectations up!

I find it hard to imagine a better Star Wars film than the original trilogy. If that is true, then I am totally seeing it! Hope the first reviews are true to that word.

But then again they both might be saying that for marketing purposes to boost sales. Did George Lucas or anyone say that the prequels would be better than the original trilogy films before the prequels came out?

[Spike M.]

Originally Posted by JMS1223

But then again they both might be saying that for marketing purposes to boost sales. Did George Lucas or anyone say that the prequels would be better than the original trilogy films before the prequels came out?

There's always a some executive or actor or whoever saying X blockbuster is the greatest ever blah blah blah blah. It's all either marketing hype or someone getting caught up in the excitement.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by wormraper

I have a suspicion that this one will be a record breaker of epic proportions

I think so too. The Dec release might put a bit of a damper on things but even at that, I can definitely see word of mouth starting stampedes.

Epic proportions sounds just about right.

[wormraper]

Originally Posted by octagon

I think so too. The Dec release might put a bit of a damper on things but even at that, I can definitely see word of mouth starting stampedes.

Epic proportions sounds just about right.

I think it may have a slow start, like now 200+ million opening weekend, but I think the legs on this one is going to be ridiculous. Like 6 months in theaters ridiculous

[JMS1223]

Originally Posted by wormraper

I think it may have a slow start, like now 200+ million opening weekend, but I think the legs on this one is going to be ridiculous. Like 6 months in theaters ridiculous

If it does $200 million opening weekend that is still record breaking because currently Avatar holds biggest opening weekend at $77 million for that same weekend in December, so $200 million would be incredible.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by wormraper

I think it may have a slow start, like now 200+ million opening weekend, but I think the legs on this one is going to be ridiculous. Like 6 months in theaters ridiculous

And if it doesn't last five or six months (and I agree that it very well could) I could easily see a May rerelease.

[pksmith74]

Originally Posted by aiman04

Both Anthony Daniels and Drew Struzan have said The Force Awakens will be the best Star Wars ever. So to them it will not just be on par with the original trilogy, but better than A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. An extremely high bar to set. So get your expectations up!

Actually Anthony Daniels didn't really care for the story much at all as evidenced by this quote: "When J.J. told me the story of the new one, my eyes sort of glazed over.”

What he DID like was working with practical sets and characters again instead of standing in front of a green screen for the whole shoot as it was with the prequel films.

Source

[Show spoiler]http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/sep/03/the-secrecy-has-been-ludicrous-star-wars-actor-anthony-daniels-on-the-new-film-and-his-life-as-c-3po

[ZoetMB]

Originally Posted by Terminated

JJ. Abrams sent Seth Myers a real lightsaber and this is what he did...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=6&v=pJzutGCEr3g

That might be more entertaining than the movie turns out to be. And if you think about it, for a relatively low-budget TV show, the effects were pretty damned good. Think of all the prep work that took.

[TheRandomOne]

[toddly6666]

It would be cool if Rey will evolve into a Sith and her stick weapon in this movoe will evolve into the return of the Darth Maul double-sided light saber. That is still the most awesome saber out of all the films.

[yanksno1]

Not necessarily TFA related, but these are so awesome I had to share anyway! Easily the best ever Star Wars MLB mashup hats. Especially love the Yankees one of course, it's perfect... The Evil Empire!!!

MLB x Star Wars Viza Print 59FIFTY Cap





Also saw over at Kohls they had some great Star Wars MLB/College mashup gear. Laughed pretty hard at this one (too bad no Yankees for me).

[ZoetMB]

Originally Posted by JMS1223

A few questions/thoughts on Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens

Since this film is expected to be huge, do you think it will surpass Avatar for Domestic and International Gross at the box office? I know this won't matter to most people, but I am curious if most people are expecting this to be the case or if it will just gross a lot like the prequels did.

Also, do most people think this film will be better than the prequels? Or even better yet, do most people expect it to be on par with the original trilogy?

I noticed with the merchandise so far very little features Luke, Han Solo or Princess Leia. I wonder if that means they will only be in the film briefly like Leonard Nimoy was in Abrams' Star Trek. If that is true, I am not so sure I like that because I would much rather have more of them than new unfamiliar characters. But that is just me.

I think international box-office will be much larger because the international market has become much larger, especially China. By the time this film comes out in a few months, China box-office (but not necessarily net back to the studios) might be larger than U.S. domestic box-office. On the other hand, one could argue that the economic crash in China will deflate admissions and the deflated currency will also have a huge negative impact on net back to the studio.

Domestic gross could exceed Avatar just because ticket prices are higher, but not necessarily number of tickets sold. There's a lot more home video than when Avatar was released and windows are shorter so many might wait to see it online or at home. IMO, the smartest thing Disney could do is return to the "old days" and to not make it available on home video in any form for one year from release date. That would force people to see it in theaters and those who like it will buy or rent it on HV anyway to see it again. But Disney won't do that because they think there's greater cash flow by releasing it on HV sooner. But if I were CEO, I'd make an exception for Star Wars and return to the old windows. I'd create scarcity to create demand.

I don't think merchandise means anything in terms of what's in the movie, but I think it's already been pretty well established that the old characters will have minimal screen time. Movie going audiences are pretty young - who wants to see a movie about three geriatrics? To most kids, anyone over 30 seems old. If this were primarily about Han, Luke and Leia, they could have called it "Star Wars VII: Medicare Advantage".

No matter how good the film is, it won't be considered to be as great as the OT. And the reason is simple: the OT was all new to us - we were seeing these characters and this universe for the first time and so we had no expectations. As we met each character, we didn't know what role they would play and how important they were. (Lucas may not have either). So no matter what Abrams accomplishes, it's largely got to be a retread because we're already familiar with so much of this universe. And while I really liked the trailer, it also all looked very familiar. Same battles but with new faces.

If they really wanted to do something different, they would have placed the story 1000 years in the future, but in the same universe. Maybe someone finds an old lightsaber and the story takes off from there. All completely different.

There are a number of conflicting factors at work: There's going to be a tremendous amount of curiosity as to where the story goes. And there's also a tremendous nostalgia factor and there are plenty of people who saw the original theatrically when first released and will take their grandkids to see the film including people who barely see films theatrically anymore. But on the other hand, I think there's a tremendous number of people who see Star Wars as "that thing my nerdy father was obsessed with" and don't want anything to do with it and there are those (like some on this site) who are obsessed with seeing it fail.

Star Wars also has an appeal to kids that I'm not sure has ever been completely understood. I see this with my own 6-year-old grandson. While he's a rough-and-tumble kid physically, he's very sensitive psychologically and finds a lot of media scary, so they haven't let him see the films yet, although he has watched some of Clone Wars. But via Legos and associated picture books, he is completely drawn to Star Wars and he knows intimate details about every single character and not just the main characters. He knows stuff about it that I don't even know as I can barely remember any of the secondary characters' names. I find that very intriguing.

[aiman04]

Originally Posted by pksmith74

Actually Anthony Daniels didn't really care for the story much at all as evidenced by this quote: "When J.J. told me the story of the new one, my eyes sort of glazed over.”

What he DID like was working with practical sets and characters again instead of standing in front of a green screen for the whole shoot as it was with the prequel films.

Source

[Show spoiler]http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/sep/03/the-secrecy-has-been-ludicrous-star-wars-actor-anthony-daniels-on-the-new-film-and-his-life-as-c-3po

https://twitter.com/ADaniels3PO/stat...rc=twsrc%5Etfw

[pksmith74]

Originally Posted by aiman04

https://twitter.com/ADaniels3PO/stat...rc=twsrc%5Etfw

The date on that tweet is nearly a year old and was on the day that principal photography was completed. The Guardian article was published two weeks ago.

[LegacyCosts]

Yeah this isnt going to be better than empire.

[aiman04]

Originally Posted by pksmith74

The date on that tweet is nearly a year old and was on the day that principal photography was completed. The Guardian article was published two weeks ago.

He did say it so my original post was accurate. And Drew Struzan said it just last month, having read the script and seen half of the film.

Originally Posted by LegacyCosts

Yeah this isnt going to be better than empire.

Agreed. But we can only confirm on December 17th though.

[toddly6666]

Sequels will rarely be as special as the originals because it has to do with age. You are all saying that these new Star Wars films wont be as special or unique but they will probably be to a lot of younger generations seeing them. There have been plenty of younger generations who enjoyed the prequels more than the older generations. Their memories of those prequels can be as epic as the older generation's memories watching the OT movies when they were younger.

[Himmel]

So just how much is The Force Awakens predicted to make????



http://fortune.com/2015/09/14/just-h...rs-movie-make/