The Long Tail of Star Wars Fandom - How Disney is killing the value of the franchise

[@NotOrdinaryInGames]

If Qui-Gon lived, and picked up the guitar, he would be you.

[@system-error]

There's a video on youtube by a guy who rented out whole cinemas for him and his peeps for the first two, TFA and TLJ. He is pissed about TLJ! He isn't going to be renting out a cinema for Episode 9 now. No more toxic fans for them, just lovely clean empty cinemas from now on. Like Solo

[@Lanterns_light]

SYSTEM ERROR what’s the vid name please :)

[@system-error]

D Howison unfortunately I dont have a link to the video, I'm going to have a hunt through my history at some point to try and find it again. But maybe someone else has seen it and remembers, it was a white dude, late 30s/early 40s with a Boston/MA type accent.

[@f11122]

I believe Disney has finally burned any bridges left with the fans at this point. They went too far. And now the fans are like washing their hands of Star Wars as long as Disney has their hands on it. We don't care anymore.

[@system-error]

FielAlManga can you help me find it? Here it is some where in my butt (shows butt)

[@thiskneegrow]

Im just going to say you're full of shit.

[@zoobee]

Kathleen Kennedy & Disney's ruining of Star Wars will become a case study in business, Hollywood and social studies on a business and cultural catastrophe and how to take lessons to avoid that

[@system-error]

Reverse Business 101 by Kathleen Kennedy How To Succeed At Failing by Kathleen Kennedy Disney Lucasfilm: My Skidmark On Cinema History by Kathleen Kennedy Bomb! A Solo Story by Kathleen Kennedy

[@IvorMektin1701]

Several doctoral dissertations will be there, I wish I was a young post-grad in business.

[@IndyDefense]

SYSTEM ERROR Be Careful What You Wish For: How I Got the Last Laugh on Star Wars Fans, by George Lucas

[@system-error]

IndyDefense Sabotage! How I punished TFA fans for betraying Lucas, by Rian Johnson

[@curtisshaw1370]

I hope that's the case, but it isn't certain. Walt Disney was smeared as an anti-Semitic and pro-Nazi because he apposed Communists in Hollywood moving into his studio. McCarthism is a synonym for a witch hunt, even though there were Communists in Hollywood, and, in fact, they never left. The Marxist-inspired, Indentitarian Post-Modern Hollywood is their direct descendant. Just because something is true doesn't mean that's how history will remember it.

[@thomashooper9148]

20% of your customers probably account for 80% of your profits! You better not lose those customers... it frightening how incompetent Lucas film has been.

[@thomashooper9148]

ElementHTTP , exactly. It’s scary that a company like Disney/ Lucas film can simply ignore such rudimentary principles.

[@legion078]

...since Lucas sold it to Disney...and Mrs Kennedy in charge.

[@danishsyed1068]

@@legion078 yup That because Kennedy is yes man and that work when she doing George's airends while working on the presquel era now she just lets the SJW do whatever they want and look what happened good lord Dave should been in change after Luces left it's probably not helped that I am a fan because of Clone Wars and pissed that got canceled and now that it's coming back I can't watch because I'm not losing god knows whatever amount of money over their dam nexflix knockoff

[@gallendugall8913]

I think you've really underplayed the game problem. The Star Wars Battlefield game was a disaster, but worse it was the only product they had. EA has had the license since May of 2013 and that's still the only Star Wars branded product they have published. EA massively screwed this up by not licensing any games that didn't fit their narrow min/max feature/profit view of what a game should be. Tons of companies pitched them ideas new RPG? Flight Sim? Strategy Game? Turn Based Tactical? and so on, but EA turned them all down. And Disney's response? Meh. How much money has Disney lost out on by letting this mismanagement go unchecked? It's a fascinating train wreck.

[@DVSPress]

I made a video about the game when it was live, but you make a good point - where are the other games? There used to be way more when Lucas Arts was a thing, and even in the prequel era the market had tons of good star wars games.

[@davidbayley4785]

Yeah I have a bunch of older star wars games -> Battlefront 1/2, Empire at War, Jedi Outcast, Rogue Squadron, Lego Star Wars and more but I didn't even bother with the latest battlefront. I'm a gamer and a fan. Easiest way to get my money is make half decent games. Totally wasted.

[@PolarIre]

David Stewart I've heard.. 5 star wars games are on the way, but the quality is suspected too be low. Essentially pay in more than you get out games, where EA just leeches all the money from the players

[@curtisshaw1370]

It's worse than that. I can think of 2 Star Wars games that were in development at EA, which looked quite good and were generating excitement when EA decided to cancel them off the top of my head. Well, one by EA and one by Disney. Star Wars: 1313 was in development when Disney bought Star Wars. In continued development under Disney until they decided to close LucasArts and give EA the exclusive licence, so I do kind of blame EA for its demise. Recently, EA shuttered Visceral Games. They were developing a story-based, action adventure game. This did not meet EA's new games as service model. Battlefront, though, is not EA's only Star Wars game. You're forgetting The Old Republic, EA's latest attempt to wrestle a share of the MMO market from World of Warcraft. That can generally be considered a failure. Now EA is developing Jedi Fallen Order through Respawn Entertainment, developers of the Titanfall series, under the games as service model. I actually think the partnership between EA and Kathleen Kennedy is perfect. EA is making games based on marketing, focus groups, and greed, instead of making a product their consumers actually want. They want to squeeze as much money out of the players in the shortest amount of time as possible, ignoring the long-term damage to the brand. If you throw in pushing a political agenda, you have the current iteration of LucasFilm. As I said, it's a perfect match.

[@shecklesmack9563]

To be fair, LucasArts wasn’t doing anything with the franchise aside from Angry Birds Star Wars, Star Wars Kinect and LEGO games in the final years of its existence. The last good Star Wars game was what, Empire at War in 2006? Six years prior to the Disney buyout.

[@FraDonaghyMusic]

Great video. Their social media/PR is also having a massive negative impact on their investment too. Possibly even more harmful than the content of the movies.

[@silas0898]

Backstage Burn Exactly right! We can accept the odd bad Marvel movie and will be critical of them, but we would still come back because the majority of movies have been good, so we can safely hope for better movies. But when the production team doesn't even understand or accept the criticism of their work and instead accuses the audience of being racist, sexist, manbaby haters the audience is left with no hope at all for the future of a franchise that was truly beloved. I'm always left wondering when romantic comedies will start to cater for men with action scenes, scantily clad women and male leads, and when those bomb will the audience be accused of being misandrists?

[@SSPspaz]

Excellent analysis. As someone who is both a lifelong Star Wars fan and works in marketing, I've noticed myself moving up the curve with my Star Wars spending. Same with my 4 to 5 "Star Wars friends". We'd always go to Star Wars opening night and then usually a 2nd or 3rd time. We'd buy the DVDs/Blu-Rays, some of us would buy the video games, etc. A couple of my friends would collect the action figures too. But when The Last Jedi came out, ALL of us hated it. Most of us grew up with the original trilogy, and were teens when the prequels came out (late 20s/early 30s these days). I've gone from seeing films 2 or 3 times each, to seeing The Last Jedi and Solo only once apiece. I'll be boycotting Episode 9 entirely. I used to buy every Star Wars video game that came out, but I didn't buy Battlefront 2. I won't be buying the Blu-Ray of TLJ or Episode 9, and as a matter of fact gave away my copy of The Force Awakens, because that whole trilogy is dead to me. My friends who collected the action figures bought a ton leading up to TLJ, but since then have stopped entirely. Sure, it's anecdotal evidence, but I've gone from spending perhaps $150 a year on Star Wars in 2015 - 2017, to spending

[@SSPspaz]

Exactly Edgar G. Episode 9 is an automatic boycott for me, as well as any project Rian Johnson has a hand in writing or directing. His trilogy will absolutely bomb if they don't pull the plug. My ONLY hope for Star Wars going forward are the anthology films. I actually enjoyed Rogue One and Solo wasn't awful if you went in with low expectations like I did. The biggest contributing factor to Solo's bombing at the box office is simply because it's the SW film that had the misfortune of following The Last Jedi. Rian Johnson has done untold damage to the Star Wars brand.

[@MikeSidious]

You're absolutely correct David. I am a long time fan and collector. As a collector, I would say that in a movie year I would spend $3000 on Star Wars merch, and that is just a rough guess - could be a lot more. This includes entire runs of action figures in various scales, starships, Hot Toys figures (which are $350 a pop) comics, books, magazines, CD/Vinyl Soundtrack, seeing the movie at least 10 times and then buying every version of the film on DVD/Bluray, including exclusive covers and even versions from the US and UK (I'm in Australia) but since the atrocity known as "The Last Jedi" was released - everything changed for me. Not only was the film a disaster on every level but the way LFL have treated all of it's loyal consumer fan base in it's wake is absolutely deplorable. I will no longer support Episode IX, nor will I support Rian Johnson's upcoming trilogy and by doing so, will probably save an incredible amount of money.

[@Ardejas]

I went from a long tail fan. (toy collector, book buyer, game buyer, ext) to spending $0 on the franchise. And I'm married with 3 young kids. Also, as the 'Star Wars Expert' within my social group, I know my being down on the franchise lately has dampened others enthusiasm to see the films.

[@jmc22475]

Chris Evans same, but I told them not to waste their money and time to see tlj and hyped up other movie

[@Citizen13]

Toys R Us is going out of business, Marvel aisles are half empty, Star Wars aisles are still full. Even at 40% off.

[@gungan5822]

James Johnson Toys r Us is still alive in Canada at the moment.

[@dougstephens1979]

James Johnson yup, i was just in Toys R yesterday, and there were still many shelves full of Star Wars toys - vehicles, 3 3/4" figures, black series 6" figures, lightsabers,etc., all stuff from the Disney era, all 50% off but just sitting there gathering dust. I remember when it was nearly impossible to find a main character figure from a new SW movie, even a year after release, even prequel characters, but there were oodles of Rey and Finn and Poe and Kylo and "new Han" figures peg warming here, even drastically discounted. I guess they'll be shipped to a landfill, or a bargain store, in about two weeks, when TRU closes it's doors for good. Sad, but proof that we just don't really like these movies much and haven't connected with these characters.

[@timgilbert3051]

If anything, you're actually understating the true value of long-tail Star Wars fans. It's not just the money they spend directly, but also their effect on everyone in their social circle as they talk excitedly about whatever the latest thing in Star Wars they are excited about. This is basically free, year-yound marketing that keeps many other casual movie goers aware and interested in the next movie, and keeps your product relevant in the cultural discussion. It's bad enough if a long-tail fan just loses interest. It's even worse if you deliberately piss them off because now they are year-round, impassioned, negative word-of-mouth for your franchise.

[@f11122]

Good points.

[@ceciliasosaleger7714]

Tim Gilbert You are so right. I was not a superhero fan until a friend took me to see Iron Man. Fast forward many years later and now I’m the one talking up the MCU to others. I never watched SW as a child and only recently started to consider it. I turned to KZbin for reviews and found out about this whole controversy. I might still have watched the movies if only to find out about the quality for myself. But now I’m familiar with how disdainful the company is being to their fan base and that’s completely turned me off. My own beloved childhood movie is Princess Bride. If someone pissed all over it *on purpose* and then told me it was my fault for not praising them for it, I would be feel angry and betrayed. Specially if what they did totally ruined my best memories of it. I can’t support Lucasfilm for doing that to such loyal fans. I have no interest now even if I don’t have to spend a penny to watch one.

[@pfeilspitze]

@@ceciliasosaleger7714

[@michelbelanger2845]

The other important part of these people on the tail end is that they are the one dressing up as storm troopers that make their friend watch the previews and talk about star wars. They are responsible for a big part of the hype. If they stop caring about star wars and it become less hyped, you loose people all along your curve.

[@aerosol2015]

As a marketer and copywriter, I gotta say, this video is spot on.

[@r.blakehole932]

Very interesting. Let me also add to the long tail. Books. I have purchased hundreds of dollars worth of books in the Extended Universe. For Disney to have jettisoned the Extended Universe and made movies that completed contradicted the Extended Universe hugely impacted my fandom. Then to make movies that violated the established character arcs of the original characters essentially destroyed my fandom. Now, the only residual left of my long tail fandom is watching videos like this. Well done Disney.

[@fortcastellan1730]

I was under the impression 'the long tail' had a time element to it as well. Certain things (like movie tickets) are sold all at once, while others (merchandise) are sold slowly over the course of time. Whatever you want to call this aspect, it also explains why Disney has problems. Items sold over the long term (merchandise) kept Star Wars alive as a franchise even when there were no big new movies for decades at a time. And if Disney is now killing the long-term merchandise part of the franchise, they are tying themselves more and more to the yearly movies. And that seems like a very poor (not to mention risky) strategy....

[@HerrSchock]

I wonder if this Star Wars Toy disaster is a global thing. Most videos on the subject are understandably US-centric. I do know however that one of the most famous german lego youtubers, who runs a brick and mortar store, commented that all none OT and Clone Wars sets are a disaster saleswise. Kids arent interested in Star Wars anymore, ninjago was the big seller in the last years. Also all the Hasbro stuff i have seen in TRU and other local stores is on 20 -30 % off and still not moving. Thanks for your efforts on so many different and interesting topics. Truly a gem of a channel David.

[@atomicdancer]

It's definitely a world-wide slump. The toys are boring for kids and adults alike. More of the same characters in the same outfits from the last movie, and uninteresting new ones like Grumpy Old Man Luke and Sourpuss Rose. There's no play value, and no collecting value to Last Jedi toys.

[@gungan5822]

HerrSchock I got a collector's lego tie fighter a couple of years ago, but there is nothing i would buy now.

[@sarahdisco-dolly1150]

I was part of the long tail buying lots of books + comics & was on the verge of diving into one of the Star Wars Table top war games. And then TLJ happened, in fact some of the books just prior were clues, and I have stopped completely, I didn't buy Battlefront 2 , no more comics, no books or blu ray, I ignored Solo, my enthusiasm was taken from me. I have no investmented heavily into Games Workshop miniatures rather than SW Armada or Legion. I was even contemplating my first holiday to the US to go to Disney, and TLJ plus the acrimonious situation that surrounds it still has left me cold.

[@japre8]

Great video David. The crazy thing at least to me is that despite all of the financial evidence of dropping toy sales, dropping Blu Ray sales, and the latest tank at the box office for Solo, the only responses that I have seen publicly from Lucasfilm have basically been to attack the fan base who lives in the “long tail” and who have complained about the direction of the franchise. I am shocked that a company like Disney who have one of the highest customer service satisfaction ratings of any company would allow Lucasfilm to act the way they are right now. There are tweets from many people directly involved in making this new franchise that basically say they don’t care what fans think of the movies, that they are making the movies for themselves. I’ve worked in many customer service jobs in my life, I’m no genius but one thing I do know is that if you don’t care about your customers your business will not be successful.

[@Adam-yf3ss]

James Prewoznik I think the attack on fans on Lucasfilm is an economic defensive move by Lucasfilm to position themselves as the victims despite gutting the brand. “We made great movies, but the sexist, white, alt-right fanbase is toxic.”

[@NebadonAdams]

Worse still, I have a theory: This Nu "Diversity" is simply a socio-political inoculation against criticism. We have a lead female - who is interchangeable with a man. We have a black character - who is a comic-relief sidekick...and a janitor to boot. We have an asian lady - whose sister was a "kamikaze" and who crashed a vehicle...asians driving, amirite? We have purple hair Admiral Amityville Hold-on-to-your-butts - a shrill feminist stereotype. We have a lead of "vague ethnicity," a great pilot - who is just a caveman "hothead flyboy," put him in his place. All of this, mind you, crafted by: 1) JJ Abrams (white dude) 2) Kathleen Kennedy (white lady) 3) Josh Trank (fired, white dude) 4) Colin Trevorrow (fired, white dude) 5) Rian Johnson (white dude) 6) Lord & Miller (2 white dudes) 7) Ron Howard (white dude) 8) Lawrence Kasdan (white dude) 9) Gareth Edwards (fired, white dude) 10) Jonathan Kasdan (white dude) And many have the nerve to say that "white men are the problem." Meanwhile, these champions of "Diversity" have cast white british women as leads 3 times now? And a white dude lead 1 time. Are we in Bizarro World? Did I miss something? What gives these Lucasfilm people and these media types (many of whom are "self-hating" white people) the unmitigated gall to paint people with the broad strokes of their OWN racism? Hypocrites! No more money from me Lucasfilm.

[@japre8]

Nebadon Adams well technically white males are the problem since they are the ones responsible for the horrible storyline and terrible character development (JJ and RJ, not to mention the rest of the list you so eloquently pointed out) lol.

[@RenlangRen]

James, you are so right about this. It is just basic business sense to give your customers what they want. I just don’t understand why Disney even bought SW if they planned to make it a totally different narrative and actively attack their old customers in favor of attracting new ones. Wouldn’t just starting out fresh have been easier? 4 billion dollars could have bought a lot of marketing for a new franchise.

[@macmcleod1188]

Spent $100 a year on star wars for 40 years. It was *easy*. T-shirts, movies, video games, dvds,blue rays, miniatures. Not a single dime since I walked out of the last jedi. My grandsons are getting Avengers stuff. No star wars stuff for them. I am shocked at the hostility to the fans. Kennedy and Johnson made it personal on top of ruining and rebooting canon.

[@Jared_Wignall]

Great video David. Thank you for essentially breaking down how all of this works. I knew sales regarding Star Wars, in particularly the merchandise, had been going down for sometime since Disney got ahold of the franchise, but this really helps putting it into perspective.

[@genkimachina]

Your video demonstrates how Star Wars is biting the hand that feeds itself.

[@TheGPrime85]

It's interesting to think I'm on the long tail end - Maybe not financially as much as good will. Although I'll always consider myself a lifelong fan of the mythology, I gave up on the franchise after Force Awakens. Somehow, still, I keep watching dozens of hours of these analysis videos. I almost enjoy watching the series being mishandled by Disney, failing. I feel actual pleasure watching Last Jedi "Rage Compilations". It feels... validating.

[@gungan5822]

GG Haha, yeah. Im not in the far end of the tail, but it's already affecting me and I'm closer to the game/book part of the tail. I'm now a "Star Wars Trainwreck" fan.

[@OGStarwars]

The “tail end” fans (hard core) also influence the movie goers. Many friends and family member of the hard core fans will listen to them. So right now we are seeing a huge collapse in the franchise. Alienating the hardcore fans creates a huge chain effect. I’m not a racist white male Disney Lucas Film are talking against - but they lost me for how they are treating the fan base in general. Also the direction they have taken the lore. They lost the heart of Starwars. I won’t even visit Disney Land for the “Starwars experience”.

[@woooweee]

Apparently there is also a "star wars land", Disneys desperate for material to fill these parks with, and now they've burned that potential, i'm sure they will charge ahead regardless, but the amount of damage Kathleen Kennedy and co have done extends well past the films.

[@OGStarwars]

wooo weee I won’t even go to the “Starwars land”. They lost me with the direction they have taken SW.

[@gungan5822]

I've said repeatedly, Star Wars wouldn't be worth 4 billion if it weren't for the hardcore fans. The franchise would have died multiple times in the intervening decades between trilogies, and the people running Lucasfilm don't understand that. Star Wars fandom was never limited to the movies. Lucasfilm says they dont need us and we are racist/sexist manbabies? See how fast your brand value tanks. Also, your content is awesome dude. Keep it up.

[@OGStarwars]

Gungan I believe their failure also lies with getting rid of the EU George and his team established. The EU is what kept the hard core fan engaged between the movies. Getting rid of those continued stories Thrawn, Mata Jade, Solo kids, Ben Skywalker etc.... did damage as well. Disney Lucas Films wanted their original stories but it came at a cost. Again alienating the hard core fans in that sense.

[@gungan5822]

Alorha Baga Oh for sure, EU canon is the only canon. They could have done Thrawn for these movies. They could have done Daala. They could have done literally any better villain than Kylo for this closing trilogy.

[@ultimatevexation8782]

Gungan if they just did Jacen Solo

[@gungan5822]

Ultimate Vexation Jacen, Kyp, Corran, any of them.

[@Werrf1]

Honestly, the old EU was so vast and unwieldy, the only sensible course really was to decanonise it. I suppose they could have gone through and picked and chosen what was or was not canon, but it would've got so confusing it would've fallen apart. What they should have done is take the best parts of the old EU and used them as a guide for the new material. Instead, they dove in feet first without a plan or a story in place, and they're reaping the rewards of that folly now.

[@GTA2SWcity]

You continue to impress me. You have a grasp of trends and economics on top of being a writer, and analysis of pop culture, and a music background. Watching your vids I feel like I don't have to be 'credentialed' in order to learn or have a conversation about subjects.

[@tyrranos9688]

The behind the scenes politics and financial suicide of this franchise under Kathleen Kennedy and Disney is vastly more entertaining than the films.

[@xYSarenArteriusxY]

You forgot to take the novels and comics into consideration, both of which are also decreasing in sales and fans. Disney attacked the hardcore fans that buy everything and anything Star Wars in the hope of getting new, SJW fans. What Disney and many other companies seem to not understand is that SJWs do not support things that are made for them, they do not vote with their wallets. I went from buying all the Star Wars novels, comics, movies, clothes, and some toys and posters to full on boycott.

[@DVSPress]

Yes, should have mentioned those as well!

[@system-error]

I think a huge part of this problem is the media too. Lucasfilm's business strategy was superficial and overly concerned with pandering to the media, which has now locked them into an SJW death spiral. The reason the media is viciously attacking the fans now, is because they expected the fans to continue to prop up the films. But instead we have tried to wrest control back from them by means of a boycott. So now the media, being little more than a 'vocal minority' (heh) can do nothing but yell at us from their shrill headlines. I don't read the articles, but I do watch videos making fun of the articles.

[@macmcleod1188]

SYSTEM ERROR I wasn't sure if I was a minority or the majority until solo came out and crashed. Now it is clear that a majority of fans have stop spending money on Star Wars. Worse, Disney seems to have some group thing going. Instead of thinking Solo failed after months of angry fan postings and videos they assumed Solo failed because far left liberals and extreme feminists won't go to Star Wars films with a male lead. The problem with this line of thinking is that liberals and conservatives, men and women, young and old, black and people of every race and nationality are angry at The Last Jedi. The Last Jedi was straight up two and a half hours of Canon reboot and attacking mail and humiliating them. Even is a liberal that pissed me off.

[@system-error]

Mac Mcleod interesting fact: I correctly predicted the domestic box office of Solo at 150-300m when 'Box Office Pro' had it projected at 390-475m domestic. The reason I projected correctly is that I had seen videos about the fake score of TLJ on KZbin. People had discovered that it was actually INFLATED by the omission of zero star reviews. So the real score is actually 25%, not 46%! I based my prediction on the real 25% score and now the Solo box office validates it. What makes it really seedy though, is how they deceive. They are falsely trying to paint it as a 50/50 'political' divide when actually 75% hated TLJ! On top of that they have an 'agent provocateur', the Down With Disney man, who is blatantly operated by them. He tried to take credit for 'hacking' the user scores of TLJ in December. Because Lucasfilm were trying to push the lie that the user scores were hacked and fake, and the media's bullshit 95%+ scores were legit. And now after the Solo bomb they've pulled the same troll out to 'claim responsibility' for harassing the actress and tie it into the boycott movement. Can you believe a company using political dirty tricks on its own customer base? It's right there happening in front of us!

[@macmcleod1188]

Yup.. and Disney has kissed my 40 year average of $100 per year goodbye. I wish they could fix it but I really don't see how they can. Either way they lose fans. If they don't roll back TLJ, I'm gone for good. If they *do* roll back TLJ, the way I see it they lose another 25% of their audience (tho, I'm not sure they spend as much money as I have historically... OTH, I'll be dead in 22 years most likely).

[@christianromero1390]

When legitimate criticism over how the franchise is being handled is labelled "white supremacism" and "misogyny". Disney not only insulted them, they slandered them. The whole tragedy behind this was people where happy when George Lucas gave up the keys to the kingdom. If only we knew the catastrophe of Disney's acquisition of Star Wars would be.

[@gungan5822]

I never support transferring ownership of an ip when the creator is still alive. While they live they are the total authority on the subject to me, and i can respect that even if the content isn't perfect. The fact that Disney is making crap while GL still lives makes me want to vomit.

[@gungan5822]

SMH SMH I had no major issues with the prequels when they came out. I can now identify certain things i don't like as an adult, but i still enjoy them. Phantom menace was actually the first movie i waited in line for tickets after school.

[@christianromero1390]

Gungan I like the Prequels they're charming in their own regards and Revenge of The Sith was a great movie. The way Lucas went out leaving Kathleen Kennedy in charge was in retrospective the worse thing to happen to Star Wars.

[@gnarthdarkanen7464]

The operative lesson here, Christian Romero, is "Never EVER attack the fans." ... If you do something that isn't "insta-magically embraced" by your fandom, you can apologize for the mistakes (once you've studied up the scrutiny, of course) OR you can reassure the fandom that you've got plans ahead that haven't been seen yet. Sometimes, it's worth pointing out that "bad things have to happen for conflict" because "story requires conflict"... It's a simple enough concept, but a lot of people aren't pleased when the creators go about destroying beloved portions of the creation... Still, it is defensible in the process of further creation. SO yes, you actually can (provided you do have the genius to do it well) set the tone to reassure fans over a possible "rage quit" threat on such drama... What you can NOT do is attack them. They are still "The Customer"... AND the oldest rule in business is, "The Customer is ALWAYS right." That's why my terms up there were not "You can correct them"... Rather, no. You literally can't correct a fan... It doesn't work. You CAN reassure him or her about the future vision... But this is a delicate credibility issue, so spend that credibility CAREFULLY and WISELY. What Disney did, however, was outright attack the fans... On top of delivering crap in disguise as a beloved franchise, tossing cheaply written characters into a sordid mess of over-produced effects and terribly lackluster performance... They had the unmitigated gall to tell the fans that they were horrible people for recognizing the formula that made the franchise so well received and further beloved for DECADES??? Nope, that's financial suicide, potentially even sabotage by that Kathleen Kennedy person (if it's in fact even a person... I have doubts). I was (for the record) concerned that Disney was getting too ambitious for its own good in acquiring LucasArts... AND with Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull... ugh... a horribly debauched collection of half-assery disguised as a messy film-noire trope-zoo joke... I lowered expectations all around. Star Wars died when Disney got a hold of it... They've officially buried it and let it rot at this point. Staring right down the barrels at an 80 million dollar loss in Solo, somebody has some 'splainin' to do... BUT I doubt there's recovery anyway. On the good side, there's low-hanging fruit in the sci-fi-fantasy territory... It's not easy writing, but with some diligence and a careful eye to plastering jokes about "Some people should just stick to cartoon mice and leave the starship piloting to the big boys"... it would likely sell. ;o)

[@tyrranos9688]

I knew it would go badly once Disney got it, but never dreamed they would so actively seek to drive away fans and destroy everything. It’s fascinating.

[@merica76]

Good stuff. Really puts it in perspective how much LucasFilm has damaged their own brand and jeopardized Disney's long term investment. I went from 'huge fan' to 'I'm done with _Star Wars_ ' as LucasFilm kept pushing their politics and agendas - culminating with _The Last Jedi_ - and I know I'm not alone.

[@ORLY911]

It's something a lot of people don't see I'm happy to see someone make an informative video on why sales are declining on the Star Wars brand and how merchandise actually sells. I'm a big Gundam fan and the value of that property is extremely high, the toys, games model kits and Blu Rays/DVD's sell extremely well in Japan (and elsewhere but that's more recent). I look at Gundam and ask "Why can't Disney Star Wars do that?" Good quality shows, toys, media, stuff to keep fans invested and allure new people and keep them. Star Wars is not doing that >.

[@danishsyed1068]

yup the most aliening thing Bandi has done with Gundam is IBO ending and P Bandi store and one those was always a problem

[@suhcars8395]

I think the problem is much bigger than they think. My friends used to be obsessed with Star Wars. We saw The Force Awakens about 10 times each, which is pretty standard for fans. Then TLJ happened, followed by the SJW creators going to war with us, calling us horrible names. None of us saw Solo, and none of us will see Episode 9.

[@Raaaww]

To me it looks like they thought they could do what ever they wanted and fans would come running to buy their shit. That includes calling me a toxic sexist racist terrorist cultist fat white manbaby and the list goes on. I've collected for 25 years but I will not buy a thing from disney star wars. Ill stick to ebay and buy the pre disney stuff.

[@j.a.e.8682]

David Stewart! Your videos make my day.

[@brothertarcuz5566]

Same here. One of the best guys here in youtube

[@system-error]

They make me gay too. Wait what did you say? Oh DAY... yeah, that's what I meant too.

[@DVSPress]

Thanks so much!

[@llcruize]

Fantastic video, didn't realize I would get up this morning and get a marketing lesson :) To the toy sales, they have been noticeably weak for TLJ. My "kids" are now in their 20's and I have grand kids. They love them some Star Wars. So we continually keep an eye out on toy sales throughout the year to stock up on SW toys for birthdays and Christmas. TLJ toys have been consistently in the discount aisle due to stores not being able to get rid of them, no matter the store, I can guarantee you their clearance aisle will have tons of TLJ merch. TFA, didn't see that stuff appearing in mass on the discount shelves until almost a year. TLJ, already, tons of stuff. We have stocked up big time.

[@GlennBrownOz]

I do find it amusing David that folks in the media that look at the numbers (generally) don't appreciate at all what you've said here. The Force Awakens didn't get to 2 billion because of the fans in the spike. No movie gets there with just spike fans, who only see the movie once. Movies get high box office and high merchandise sales by the fans that not only see the movie multiple times, but take others, a LOT of others to see it as well. Insult those fans at your peril. Could they be mostly 40 year old white dudes? Sure (certainly not as much as people claim)... but treat them with respect or you'll lose all of your product value. Marketing 101.

[@DHtheGamer]

Great video again, Mr. Stewart. Nice to see you talk business as that's my field of work, specifically accounting lol. I think Disney understands this, but I'm afraid the people at Lucasfilm are the ones to blame for their creative direction. I believe Disney was being smart with what they wanted with the movies. The episodic films for a much wider audience (those who wouldn't want to see a Star Wars movie every year), while the spin off movies were made for the Hardcore fans who want to see a film every year. I hypothesize that's what they wanted to happen. What they didn't expect was what Lucasfilm did in TLJ negatively impacted the fans that would want to give a return in the spinoff movies. However, it's today's current "public beliefs" from the narratives that do seem to be prevalent that caused TLJ, thus betraying the Hardcore fans.

[@fredkelly6953]

That's all well and good bean-counter but why hasn't Disney gone into damage control since TLJ. Anyone with half a brain cell can see how all this negativity has affected the brand. Surely one of the suits at Disney has said WTF and expected answers from Kennedy, not just creatively but her own leadership decisions.

[@frankcolumbo4559]

I'm not so sure that Disney does understand this. The way they've handled the fan backlash shows they don't care about the "spike" that affects the "long tail". It makes no sense for them to make something like the Last Jedi that kills the goose laying the golden eggs for them. It's either one of two things, they wanted to piss off over half the fans, or they're clueless as to what makes SW do what it does. Either way they've shown they are assholes or inept and not worthy of carrying the torch. The fact that Rian Johnson has been given a new trilogy, is more evidence they don't get it.

[@DHtheGamer]

fred kelly I'm sure Disney has gone into damage control, but we wouldn't be able to see that. The reason why that's the case is because if we can see it, so can their investors. It's general business practice to not admit that there's a problem, though that is very unethical to do. So if Disney did something or is planning to do something, they'll handle it internally. Now as to whether or not that's actually the case, we'll just have to see. Still doesn't explain as to why they allow attacks on fans. Though that may be chalked up to a time issue, where they haven't had a meeting yet to discuss it. I don't know Disney's administration's itinerary or how important they view Star Wars, considering how big Disney is.

[@DHtheGamer]

Frank Columbo I think your concerns may be more of a Lucasfilm problem than a Disney problem. Disney might have given Lucasfilm a lot of freedom in how they direct and produce Star Wars as evidenced by Marvel. So ultimately I believe how Disney operates these external properties is by giving more freedom to the independent studios working on them. Because if this wasn't the case we'd have similar issues with other Disney properties.

[@frankcolumbo4559]

DHtheGamer - You're right, my comment should have been directed more toward the President of Lucasfilm, Kathleen Kennedy, since Disney as a whole are still doing things right, i.e., the Marvel EU. I still have to question the parent company though, someone there should be looking at their $4 billion dollar investment in Lucasfilm and re-evaluate how the management/freedom they've been given has backfired.

[@johnkirk2863]

They have said they dont need the fans..they are trying to get new fans but they are getting the wrong type of fans who dont spend the money on it that the hard core fans spend on it..i wil not even touch anything with Disney star wars on it (Rey Finn Poe BB8 etc etc) and that is what they keep shoveling out...I have however started noticing that more and more cahracters like Yoda chewie vader etc are cropping up with the odd BB8

[@badderbobcat]

Star Wars was ruined by Disney.

[@DISTurbedwaffle918]

Matthew Daye Disney has done a great job with Marvel though. I'd say it's the people who run Lucasfilm itself.

[@sebas8225]

Star wars was ruined by biggotry and stupidity.

[@Stratelier]

Though, it is actually better than what George was planning... No, seriously, go look it up. Remember midi-chlorians? George remembers.

[@gizmo8760]

DISTurbedwaffle918 : Disney only very recently acquired Marvel. Infinity War was produced before Disney's takeover. But from now on, it will be under Disney and we will see how Disney really manages Marvel. If they leave Kevin Feige alone, then Marvel has a chance.

[@Stratelier]

Well, if you haven't read about that interview, George didn't just stop at Midichlorians. His thematic plans were, shall we say, a deep exploration of who The Force is. Note I didn't say "what", I said "who". That was intentional. Even George admitted it probably needed another ten years to flesh out, and the fans would have "probably hated it". The ironic part is that it isn't bad as a worldbuilding concept, but (and this is a BIG but) it would trivialize and violate basically everything we knew and love about the series, starting with its central characters. This isn't like Neo taking the red pill. It's like a TV show deciding to end a season with one character waking up in the morning to realize the _entire past year_ was just last night's vivid dream. Like a lovable cast of RPG heroes discovering that they're actually just datafiles running on somebody's computer simulation. (I wish I was making those up.)

[@ondrejm5042]

Seems me purchasing the Lego UCS Millenium Falcon for 800 Eur (actually i have now 2 :) ) gets me on the long tail of this curve. And i can fully agree. Im loosing interest and spending my money elswere, i was able to build a nice collection of Transformers as a result in last 2 years.

[@mattmobily1975]

Excellent video. This makes so much sense. The Lucasfilm push for 'strong female leads', 'the force is female', etc, may help them gain a few younger girls that will contribute to their spike. However, that may come at the cost of their 'tail' supporters (I would imagine mostly males) who may be turned off by this new direction.

[@Adam-yf3ss]

Exactly. This is the core issue.

[@RC-mb5oh]

Both male and female fans generally like female characters such as Ahsoka, Padme, and of course Leia. The problem with the new cast is that Rey, Tico and Holdo are poorly developed, often unnecessarily at the expense of the male characters. Look up KZbin reviews of The Last Jedi by female fans; you'll find that most of them consider the pandering to be insulting and patronizing. So they're losing lots of women this way, too.

[@pocketnunu]

Ron -- it isn't just women either. It's people of color. I'm Asian American. I feel Rose Tico especially is an embarrassment and Finn was essentially turned from a storm trooper into a clown.

[@BungieStudios]

The variety and number of toys shrunk. Their quality decreased. Their MSRP increased. That killed toy sales for me, followed by Lucasfilm's toxic treatment of their customers and fans, and the destruction of the franchise and its art.

[@thenatureboy1837]

The Star Wars land in Disney is going to be based on Canto Bite 😂😂😂

[@m0ther_bra1ned12]

Oooh I can't wait... -_-

[@joshm5514]

As a lifelong star wars fan I've definitely spent less on Star Wars as I've gotten older, mainly after i graduated high school as that was quite a while after the prequels (around 2009) and there seemed to be a lack of good star wars content from what I remember at that point in time. I wasn't lost as a fan, I just had bigger priorities for my money at that point than anything star wars had to offer me. When TFA was announced I was pretty excited. I saw it twice in the theaters, and came away realizing it was pretty disappointing. I think I saw Rouge One in the theaters once, and for the most part enjoyed it. Much more than TFA. I decided TLJ would be the last bit of money I'd spend on Star Wars unless it was good. It was worse than I expected, and my expectations were pretty low. I own the originals and prequels on blu ray already and haven't seen Solo, needless to say I don't want to waste my hard earned money on something that isn't good.

[@thestaz8564]

Rian Johnson has cost Disney alotta dollars XD

[@IvorMektin1701]

The first time I've tweeted out a link before I hit the thumb's up button. Absolutely brilliant.

[@jeremysumrak1842]

My brother and I buy Hot Toys figures. Those typically go for $200-250 each. I don’t buy Star Wars HTs, but he does. Multiple figures, such as Boba Fett, Empire Strikes Back Luke, Vader, many Storm Troopers, etc. He Hasn’t bought any from the new films with the exception of Jyn Erso from Rough One. Most expensive SW tat he has is Darth Vader statue from Sideshow Collectibles at over $1000 dollars. No more sales to him...lots of money lost...

[@gungan5822]

Jeremy Sumrak Hahahaha. "Rough One".

[@jeremysumrak1842]

Gungan Stupid iPhone autocorrect. Gonna leave it as-is. Everything about Star Wars is “rough” these days...

[@gungan5822]

Jeremy Sumrak Yes please. Leave it😁

[@synapticflow]

To all of my Star Wars brothers and sisters: KEEP ON FIGHTING! KEEP ON BOYCOTTING! EPISODE 9 IS OUR NEXT BATTLE!!! Show them that we will NEVER STOP They shot down Star wars. They shot down the fans. Now we're FIGHTING BACK!!!

[@dougstephens1979]

Bravo! It's nice to see it explained and laid out so simply. I'm one of those fans who used to spend hundreds of dollars on Star Wars merchandise every year, maybe more. I bought every Clone Wars figure I could find, vehicles, everything, right before Disney bought the franchise. And then the movies started to suck and I spent less and less. Have not spent one dime since the release of Last Jedi.

[@lukeskywalker496]

Dave you tagged the wife and I on the head. Celebration Europe, full Vader, Maul, Trooper costumes, all kinds of Star Wars merch. I put up a photo booth every year for the school kids to get their pics taken with the above or Imperial Officers etc which was trying to replant the seeds of love of this IP. No more. No Celebrations even if in my hometown. No picture booths, no toys, nothing. I could care less about SW at DL. The place is too crowded anyway. Disney SW= Pass Pass Pass. The loss this new direction has created won’t be fully understood for years. Disney shareholders needn’t look any further than KK and her staff to place blame. This will continue to hurt Disney for decades to come in some way or another.

[@dw5453]

You so nailed it. These idiots at Lucasfilm don't get that what made the Star Wars movies so wildly successful, popular, and inspirational in the first place was that they started off as fun and cool. They were amazing works of innovative, amazing visual and audio art. And now the people in charge think that they can ditch that for preachy lecturing, sour characters, and recycled plots. The utter hubris and stupidity.

[@cps3119]

I was about 3/4 of the way down the tail. I easily spent hundreds of dollars a year on Star Wars and bought everything they came out with. After what they’ve done to the franchise with the terrible last Jedi movie, I didn’t shift up the curve, I completely jumped OFF it. When you are on the long tail you have a more invested relationship with the franchise. And when you feel betrayed by how they handle the franchise that you are so invested in, your reaction is much more harsh than those who are at the spike. This is what’s happening to StarWars and THATS why they will continue to spiral out of control unless they change something dramatically. In short, while people are shifting up the curve and away from the long tail, many, many people are also just hopping off the tail altogether.

[@billysidness5907]

I found this absolutely fascinating, I have easily spent $2000 or more on Star Wars toys, comics and general memorabilia several years in a row prior to the Disney purchase, I can only imagine how much they have lost through alienating the "long tail" fans. Great Video, Cheers

[@elsa_draws_stuff]

I believe that my approach to selling my art is forever changed...thank you for the mind-blowing content! You know what might be fun is a video talking about components of a good video game, why that might depend on the game's genre, etc. I don't see a ton of well-rounded analysis of games.

[@benrose6183]

What a succinct and relatable breakdown, I used to spend ~$1000 a year on star wars (mostly Lego sets and games), but recently have completely abandoned ship and moved on to Warhammer 40k to fill my science fantasy hole. I bought a ticket to Solo and that's probably all I've spent on star wars since Rogue One.

[@TheSentry_1]

Is Warhammer good? I'm looking for a new game to get into.

[@benrose6183]

I haven't actually played the tabletop game yet, just been building and painting the models, but the lore and setting is great and so is the community.

[@TheSentry_1]

That sounds great, but I'm worried that the lore and gameplay might be a bit over my head. I usually play the Diablo games on my pc and have a ps4 for console games.

[@ceciliasosaleger7714]

That was a great explanation; I learned so much. In particular I found it very helpful that you started by explaining how this concept applies in a typical store setting before moving on to show how it works for SW specifically. Thanks!

[@sebas8225]

disney is so incompetent, how can they be making this shit movies instead of giving good material like a Thrawn movie?

[@mikestanmore2614]

Yes Dave, it's a Pareto distribution. 20-30% of customers provide 70-80% of revenue. In Star Wars' case, it's probably even more concentrated. Lucasfilm have driven away that critical 20%, and it's cost them nearly.

[@danielmumby1525]

David, over the last 40 years, Ive spent (in today's money), about $10k. Over the next 40 years (should I live that long) would anyone like to guess how much I going to spend on SW, based on their current direction? $0. So the people who calculated the value of SW obviously have long since been fired, because Disney couldn't possibly be working on the basis that their new offering now takes into account us "long tail" fans. Same plays for the +$10b being spent on SW at the theme parks. As a marketer, im interested in how this plays out. As PT/OT fan, not so much.

[@Trollificusv2]

Thanks, David, this is the analysis I've been trying to make (but missing the "long tail" application). It's been obvious to me that the $4 billion evaluation of the franchise, after 40 years, lay with those "long tail", $1,000/yr fans...the very fans Disney is now engaged in an active campaign to demonize. Hard to imagine that NOT blowing up in their races./

[@prisonerofthehighway1059]

Great vid David. Wanted to stick my oar in concerning Disney knowing how economics work. Nihilism has wormed its way into economic thinking as much as anything else. A lot of “modern economists” consider it to be a zero sum game. It wouldn’t surprise me if they decided getting rid of the long tail fans(mostly white males)in exchange for everyone else on the planet was a viable strategy. I do a bit of consulting in the industry I work in, it would blow your mind to know how many companies I’ve had to “talk down off the ledge” like this.

[@dataracer1172]

This was fantastic. We've been saying for months, these toys aren't moving and the selection is limited. Hasbro is reporting numbers and its bad. The franchise does 5x in toy sales vs film revenue. Takes a few quarters to feel it, but I suspect were getting close to D day for Lucasfilm and the leadership.

[@Dre2Dee2]

This video is extra hilarious now, in hindsight, watching Galaxy's Edge bombing the hell out XD

[@chosenmibhar]

Wow... watching this video one year later... it's a self-fulfilling prophecy.

[@TakersMissy]

This was a great presentation, David, and it again brings home the effect of how Disney/Lucasfilm has radically hurt the franchise by swapping great movies (storytelling & characters) fans want to see for pushing radical social agendas that go against a LARGE part of the fanbase. Their handling of the Star Wars franchise has been what THEY want and if fans don't like it, then we're the bad guys. Totally illogical and VERY poor business!

[@alexanderkosling7287]

Disney is a problem itself, not just Lucasfilms. To me Disney does not produce familiy movies/films anymore, like they used to with movies like Pirates of the Carribean. Instead they produce feministy girl-empowering movies for girls. So they are partially at fault for the direction of Lucasfilms, because Lucasfilms just tried to emulate what Disney does with their other franchises - even if it was more extreme ideologically and lackluster storywise than the average Disney movie.

[@ammonohran9534]

Thanks for the videos! I always learn something new when i watch you

[@pocketnunu]

David Stewart - Thanks for putting the decline of Disney SW into perspective. What really puzzles me is how or why there is a decline in the first place.

[@AM-os4ty]

Great video! Thank you for mentioning the theme parks! It gets lost in the analysis quite often. Personally, I think if people want to see Disney go down for messing with Star Wars, they might get their wish. It takes a lot of money to recoup the capital invested into theme parks. I could see the money sunk into theme parks taking down a good part of the Disney ship, depending on how they handle Star Wars from here.

[@basedchristianhistory3443]

Yep. I'd usually buy the DVD/Bluray and go multiple times. I'd buy shirts and other stuff. But they've killed all that with me. They turned Luke into a child abuser. I mean what the hell? How they thought that'd pay off is beyond me.

[@markj6606]

Lmao...

[@josh032687]

This video was excellent. Thank you for breaking down for me how the toys and movies are connected on such a relatable level.

[@cjh4467]

There is also the issue of how the long tail fans enhance the spike's perception of value. If the long tail fans are not willing to spend large sums of money, wait in long lines to watch the movies and create the large sales in the opening weekend, the spike will not think think that the product is valuable.

[@legion078]

As said already in several comments above: thank you for making this video! Of course Disney did the math and they also know how the chart works. If they didn’t they wouldn’t be one of the most valuable companies in the world. The problem is: they don’t know how Star Wars works! They do know how to make high quality movies. I’m not talking about content, characters and plot - I mean the pictures and visual experience. Because the plot and most of the new characters of the Sequels are just one epic disaster - especially what the directors did to Mr Hamill and the character of Luke Skywalker. I’m glad to see new Star Wars movies, but good art takes time. If they continue their frequency of one movie a year with lots of trouble going on behind the scenes and on screen, the franchise will be further damaged. Essentially!

[@Khaiell]

I agree with your analysis and I just want to point out a fallacy in how hipster marketing folks hijacked the mathematical term "the long tail". A series or a distribution can have either a long or a short tail. It is not given, that every distribution has a long one. The definition is that we call the tail "long" if it contains more value than everything before it. To be more mathematical, there must be a finite integral or summation from a given point to infinity. You can prove that for a distribution to have a long tail, its values have to decrease as 1/x or slower. If the values decrease faster (say 1/x^2) the tail is short and its value after certain point is negligible. I often see the term "a long tail" used to denote any "tail" of a distribution which leads to bad marketing decisions, if the tail in fact happens to be short. Notably the Pareto distribution can have either a long or a short tail, dependant on the value of the aptly named "tail index" of it.

[@nealkriesterer]

Insightful as always - this breaks down something that is often misunderstood in a way that is visually memorable and easy to follow. Good video!

[@LMoftheCoast]

I dread to think how much money I, my friends and family have spent on Star Wars games, books and other merchandise over the past 30 odd years. My spending has massively dropped since Disney took over, and has dropped to nothing since The Last Jedi. Good job Lucasfilm and Rian Johnson.

[@flatflatspin9855]

The 80/20 RULE! 80% spend 20% 20% spend 80%

[@niche0boven]

This long tail was very lucrative for the Disney princesses and thy hoped they were buyig a tail for boys. But they promptly broke the spike by NOT realizing that you can't make as much if you subvert the fairy tale. I wish the money people saw this.

[@tomgnau]

Well done, as always. It has been interesting to watch as, just as it became apparent that "Solo" would likely lose money, attacks against fans by people like Rian Johnson and Pablo Hidalgo only intensified. I doubt that's a coincidence.

[@highplainsdrifter1502]

They answered the question of how they feel about the fans out on the right hand side of your curve, in the niche area. I believe they said, " It's time to let old things die. Snoke... Skywalker... the Sith... the Jedi... the rebels. Rey... I want you to join me. We can rule together and bring a new order to the galaxy. " This was not the only reference to killing off Luke, Leah and Han. Disney wanted " Disney Star Wars, to have new characters, new locations and new ships but they never wanted to understand the fandom of the Franchise they purchased. This video was made before their brilliant Disneyland theme park idea of removing everything that represented old Star Wars and adding nothing of value to attract Star Wars fans to the park. There are plenty of videos dated July 4th week 2019 of an empty Disneyland Star Wars. Disney does not have any idea why they are losing value on the Star Wars franchise. So, they have decided to shelve anything new after Solo lost money. They will now experience the same type of Franchise value loss in Marvel. What made Marvel a success ? kevin feige's plan, Robert Downey jr(Iron Man) , Chris Evans ( Captain America ) and Scarlett Johansen ( Black Widow all together contributed to the success. Just like Star Wars, they are going to kill off the old and in Endgame they killed Black Widow and Iron Man, then retired Captain America. So expect the upcoming movies to not generate as much interest as the Fans have lost their core characters. They also fail to understand that Nostalgia for Star Wars helped them make the money that they were able to make, the stories and directing were terrible. Expect the same Nostalgia for Marvel to bring out fans to 1 or 2 bad Movies before the drop off becomes apparent. Also, none of this takes into account the current Hollywood problem of inserting Political Agenda into these Movies. The stories and directing continue to suffer as Hollywood virtue signals through its movies.

[@jakkuhl6223]

I buy SW Legos to convert them into wargame pieces (brikwars). What you're talking about is so close to home. I bought the latest Mos Eisley set because of how close it got to the classic scene, not just the pieces, even though it was more expensive. The only new trilogy sets I buy are the trooper battle packs just because they're efficient for getting parts.

[@gurneyhalleck1127]

Given what Disney seems to be doing with Marvel comics and I guess the movies in a year or two, they don't seem to care about money anymore. Which seems far fetched but I can't come up with anything better.

[@robwest2813]

How dare you bring business management statistics into the Star Wars business. Feelings are what’s important here. Lucas film is entirely too woke for your witchcraft accounting. Great video man.

[@BryonLape]

Good video. I shared it in the WCBS FB page as well.

[@drhumupower8570]

I was one of those long tail fans - and I've not spent a dime on anything Star Wars related since Rogue One. Not only was I a long tail fan, I was excited to share Star Wars with the next generation in my family and to pass on some of my long tail fandom. At present, Disney has killed my desire to do that.

[@shenglong9818]

Was really hoping you'd do a video on this - thank you.

[@QazwerDave]

The sheer amount of people participating in the franchise is also what makes the franchise valuable.

[@georgebarrett2132]

The spike IS where Disney miscalculated.. Their studio friendly creative freedom policy of minimal interference didn't work for StarWars as it did for Marvel and other IPs like Pixar.. The puzzle is why they haven't taken measures to rectify this even as of yet, as far as we know without speculating

[@evilsdemise1287]

Another homerun of a video! I love your channel! Thank you for the information, always informative!

[@justiceforall6248]

The only good thing that came out of the new Disney Star Wars films for me was the youtube reviews that you and others made of them. I would hire you to direct Episode 9, I am certain you could do a better job than Rian Johnson. At least I would enjoy the results.

[@waynethesexmachine]

Great video Dave. Good to see this in plain english to establish the knock on value. Next video: Hair tutorial, getting those locks vibrant and shiny :) For Star wars related material could you take a look at the marketing of Solo, as this has been listed as a reason for the failure of the movie, I'd like to see how much of a legitimate impact this had.

[@DVSPress]

I'm total summer bum in this video. Curly half dried hair and all.

[@mrbelgrade6631]

I love watching your videos because I always know I will end up learning something new.

[@DVSPress]

Thanks!

[@waynereacts5553]

Very interesting, thank you. Where do you see the impact of pay-per-view and subscription TV content?

[@camreese]

You put into words what I've been thinking since last jedi

[@jaysway9251]

Excellent video David. Since TFA came out, I’ve only bought 1 toy. I’m a lifelong Star Wars and I just don’t feel a connection to this new era of Star Wars.

[@jhn146A]

This was an awesome class David I appreciate it well thought-out and it makes you really look at just how much of a dire strait lucasfilm is in right now.. the really awesome videos David thank you.

[@ramons8908]

So much disrespect of the fans coming from Disney. A lot of the value in Star War was that it was something pretty rare too, think of it, the first 3 movies were released 1 every 3 years, then nothing, until 1999. Disney are just seeing fans as cash cows and people to push THEIR politics onto. I'm an old Star wars fan, having seen Return of the Jedi in the cinema when I was young, yet I'm not bothering with these new movies. I'm not giving money to people who hate me, simple as that. Lucas should of handed the IP to someone in the extended universe who knew what they were doing and actually loved the IP before the train wreak that was the prequels, let alone Disney.

[@Rantsnrambles808]

Every year as a kid I wanted Star Wars legos and video games...I was probably close to 200-300 bucks a year.

[@Jazza8888]

Excellent video and a great explanation about why Lucasfilm and Disney are failing to meet the expectations of their customers.