2. Audiences Will Eventually Get Sick Of Star Wars
David JamesStar Wars has remained a cultural touchstone for almost 40 years, showing incredible staying power to remain at the height of the zeitgeist ever since Episode IV hit theaters way back in 1977. Even after the underwhelming and ultimately disappointing prequel trilogy, the franchise has lost none of its appeal and the fan-base only continues to grow with each new generation that discovers the movies. However, there is a potential downside; after Disney's $4bn acquisition of Lucasfilm the studio announced their intentions to release a new Star Wars movie every year. As the old saying goes, there can be too much of a good thing. JJ Abrams was announced as the director of Episode VII, and initial reaction to the casting and set photos has proven to be highly promising, barring the unfortunate injury to Harrison Ford of course. So far, all of the announcements regarding the future of the franchise have been well-received; George Lucas won't be able to add his awful dialogue, the movie has assembled a talented ensemble cast, while critically-acclaimed directors Rian Johnson, Gareth Edwards and Josh Trank were hired to direct Episodes VII and IX and the first two spin-offs respectively. However, the cynic in me believes that releasing a new Star Wars movie annually will only hurt the franchise in the long-term. The movies in the original trilogy were separated by three years apiece, and the much-maligned prequels followed that template sixteen years later. The current plan for the series is to alternate between the main episodes and the standalone spin-offs, following a similar template to the coincidentally Disney-owned Marvel Studios to provide a tent-pole Star Wars release every year. The real problem is that the longer they plan to carry on this annual schedule, the more likely that the law of diminishing returns begins to apply, which could ultimately lead to franchise fatigue and audience apathy.