Star Wars
Star Wars changed the economics of the film industry as much as its aesthetics. George Lucas famously accepted a reduced directing fee in exchange for merchandising and sequel rights, which the studio considered close to worthless in 1977 and which turned out to be one of the most valuable deals in entertainment history.
About Star Wars
Star Wars changed the economics of the film industry as much as its aesthetics. George Lucas famously accepted a reduced directing fee in exchange for merchandising and sequel rights, which the studio considered close to worthless in 1977 and which turned out to be one of the most valuable deals in entertainment history. The film itself was assembled from parts — Kurosawa, Flash Gordon serials, the Western, Joseph Campbell's comparative mythology, and the visual language of the Second World War aerial combat film — and its success established the summer blockbuster, the effects-driven franchise and the licensed-merchandise model that now dominate the business. The setting has since expanded across film, television, animation, comics and games, with a canon that has been formally reorganised more than once.
Lucas traded salary for merchandising and sequel rights in 1977, a deal that made him independently wealthy and reshaped how studios value licensing.
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Key eras
| Era | Years | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| Original trilogy | 1977–1983 | Establishes the characters, the merchandising model and the modern blockbuster. |
| Prequels | 1999–2005 | Pioneered digital production techniques later adopted industry-wide. |
| Disney era | 2012– | Sequel trilogy, then a shift of creative weight toward television. |