The force is strong in this one! I’ve got a bad feeling about this! Luke, I am your father! Expect to be hearing these famous lines of dialogue A LOT over the next few months.
Why? Because Star Wars, the largest movie franchise on the planet, is getting a new release this winter!
You’ll know this by now, what with teaser trailers going viral over the internet and action figures being released into Toys ‘R’ Us by the truckload.
Even if you still consider Star Wars fans to be sweaty nerds who squat in their mother’s basement like cave trolls (which is rather old fashioned of you, by the way), avoiding the seismic impact of this epic sage is like avoiding oxygen.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens looks set to revitalise the franchise after a shaky set of prequels. Directed by geek-film goliath JJ Abrams, the films pick up where Han, Luke and Leia left off at the end of Return of the Jedi.
Expect thrills, spills, action sequences, wisecracks from Han and (more than any of this) as much merchandise as you can get your grubby mitts on.
The merch strikes back
Indeed, merchandising was one of the biggest innovations of the Star Wars franchise.
In the 70s, film producers didn’t see much value in touting action figures and t-shirts to excitable nine-year-olds, which makes sense for the time. When the biggest films of the decade are aimed at adults (Taxi Driver, The Godfather, The Exorcist), there isn’t much opportunity to make big bucks in the toy market.
So George Lucas refused to part with the merchandising rights of his film, to the bemusement of his producers.
But his gut instinct was vindicated – the colourful cast of Star Wars have been replicated billions of times on t-shirts, as action figures and even (who knows why) on duct tape.
The well of Star Wars merchandising opportunities has seldom run dry for the past three decades – and the latest film is proving just as fruitful.
Merchandise old and new
As well as the original cast of characters returning (can you imagine Han Solo coming back as a crotchety old man?), Abrams has assembled a young squad of Stormtroopers, Jedi Knights and Sith Lords to add some pep to the cast.
In the toy market one little droid is already making a stir. BB-8, a spherical droid in the vein of R2-D2, has been turned into a fully autonomous, app-controlled companion for Star Wars nerds everywhere.
What role the droid will play in the films is difficult to figure out before they’ve even been released. But one thing’s for sure – the toy is going to make Disney millions.
Few people know what’s in store for the franchise in a galaxy far far away – but you can guarantee some great merchandising opportunities will be making their way onto the market.
