Recently, LOST’s David Lindelof told Rolling Stone that Episode VII would be the biggest event movie in modern cinema history, with the hype being twice what we saw with Episode I. Anyone old enough to remember 1998/1999 would remember that the hype for that movie was stratospheric, so it’s almost hard to imagine a movie being hyped even more. There is a reason why he says that, and we counted five big ones:
It’s Star Wars, Stupid
Star Wars, more than any other movie series, holds a sort of prestige. Thanks to the Original Trilogy, Star Wars is legendary big screen entertainment. Star Wars is made to be experienced on a giant screen, so any chance for people to do that is a big deal. As much as some people may dislike the Prequels, each one was a huge box office success and shattered records. Even “bad” Star Wars results in a huge movie in theaters.
The Original Cast
Even if they’re only in mentor-style roles, people will line up around the block for a fourth movie with Luke, Han, and Leia. For many fans, it’s still sinking in that we’ll be getting another adventure with those characters. Once it does, expect the hype level for Episode VII to really explode. Geeks who will be in their 40s and 50s will be giggling like little kids to see the heroes they grew up with back on the big screen.
No Lucas Dialog or Directing
I wish I could wish away the dialog in Episode II. Thankfully, that won’t be a problem with the Sequel Trilogy! Lucas did what he did best; created the story outline and then handed it off to another screenwriter and director to make it into a classic. That’s what he did with The Empire Strikes Back, and look what happened. The one major complaint about the Prequels won’t be an issue in Episode VII.
It’s a Sequel
The Prequels sort of felt anti-climatic; as every true Star Wars fan knew exactly what would happen at the end of Episode III. For more than twenty years leading up to Revenge of the Sith, we knew that Vader was put into the suit after he and Obi-Wan had a duel over a “molten pit”. The whole trilogy was just leading up to Vader being BBQ’d. What made the Original Trilogy classic is that people didn’t know exactly how it would end. After the events of Empire, people were really guessing what Jedi would bring. As the Sequel Trilogy is an original story, we again will be going into three Star Wars movies fresh.
The World is Ready
One of the observances as to why the original Star Wars was such a huge earth-shattering hit in 1977 had to do with the state of the country and world at that time. The US was a little beat down, as it had just gone through the long Vietnam War, the economy was in the toilet, and people were looking for something positive to latch onto. Star Wars came along and gave them the positive escapist adventure they needed, and the rest was history. The state of the world now isn’t too different than 1977, which means things are primed for Episode VII to repeat what the original Star Wars did thirty-five years ago.
