Is It Time to Be Worried About 'Star Wars'?

In October of 2012, Disney announced it

a

was buying Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion and would begin to produce a series of new Star Wars movies beginning with Episode VII. Fans, although skeptical of Disney's involvement, were delighted at the idea of seemingly endless movies in the most beloved sci-fi universe of all time. But neither fan—nor Lucasfilm, nor Disney—realized that Star Wars would face the challenges of a new entertainment era.

It had been seven years since the release of the uneven George Lucas prequels. But even in less than a decade, Star Wars fandom had changed. Those prequels had indoctrinated an entirely new generation of fans, while rejuvenating the ones who had loved it for decades. The industry had changed, too, and along with it, the way that news outlets and fans follow the production of movies closer than ever. Every tiny detail, every set photo, every toy description is immediately blasted on the web for fans to scrutinize.