XPost: alt.fan.starwars

From Variety.com ...

'Star Wars': 'Game of Thrones,' Sequels, and the Cheapening of a Franchise
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With the announcement of David Benioff and D.B. Weiss' series of films,
the number of 'Star Wars' movies is set to double. What does that mean for
a fan?

It is astonishing to me that in just a few years, my enthusiasm about the
latest announcement of a new "Star Wars" film has gone from giddy, barely
contained excitement to complete indifference - if not, at times, a more
rancorous frustration. The announcement this week that "Game of Thrones"
showrunners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff are slated to helm an entire film
series of the beloved science-fiction franchise felt like a nail in the
coffin of something I used to love.

It's a reaction that is not wholly about the deal itself, which itself
must make perfect sense to anyone outside the fandoms of these franchises.
"Game of Thrones" is one wildly successful genre drama and "Star Wars" is
another; on some level, this is an obvious pairing. This is more about
reckoning with what a film franchise is, and the possible shapes it can
take as it moves forward. In this case, the business incentives behind
the expansion of the "Star Wars" universe have exposed the creative dearth
at its heart. This is yet another signal from Disney that "Star Wars" is
rapidly becoming like its Marvel universe - a multi-platform, multi-story
universe that advances its narrative and expands its world with each
successive print, screen, and digital installment. Since 2008, Marvel has
produced 18 films, with six more on deck to be released by 2020; since
2013, it has put on 16 seasons of television. It's a sprawling monster of
content. But to be brutally honest, most of the content isn't that great.
It's chain-restaurant pop-culture: warm, satisfying enough and quickly
forgotten, like a meal at Chili's.


Article continues at <http://variety.com/2018/tv/news/star-wars-new-series-column-cheapening-brand-1202691283/>

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