4. The Law of Diminishing Returns
In case the corporate Mouseketeers hadnt noticed, Star Wars last two cinematic outings performed well below expectations. First, 2008s Clone Wars animated movie was a commercial underachiever and a critical catastrophe, garnering worse reviews than any of the Prequel Trilogy (which is really saying something) and failing to come anywhere near $100 million in box office receipts. While it did give birth to a moderately successful and generally well-received TV series, the fact remains that it was the first unmitigated commercial failure ever dealt to the Star Wars franchise by the theater-going public. Also underwhelming at the box office was last years 3D re-release of The Phantom Menace, intended to kick off yearly 3D releases of all six entries in the Star Wars saga in episodic order, which managed to just barely scrape past $100 million in worldwide receipts. In arguably their first and only show of prudent restraint since acquiring the franchise, Disneys first move was to promptly cancel the remaining 3D re-releases concurrent with the announcement of production on the prequel trilogy. While it certainly can be argued that Episode Is lackluster 2012 showing owed mostly to the fact that no one liked it to begin with (rejected tag lines for the re-release were rumored to include Pay twice as much to see a movie you hated 13 years ago!), there is little reason to believe the remaining 3D versions would have improved on its performance sufficiently to make their existence worthwhile.