Star Wars 7: 5 Ways Disney Is Wasting The Saga's Potential

The announcement that George Lucas had sold his beloved Star Wars franchise to Disney two years ago took the internet by storm, and more than a few by surprise. Star Wars was seemingly done with the big screen, as Lucas's enthusiasm had been dulled by the hostile reception of the prequel trilogy - and rightly so - and it seemed as if the future of Star Wars was to be confined to the novels of the Expanded Universe, numerous video games, and the comic books. When it was announced that Disney now owned the franchise, speculation was rampant over what the company would do with their new toy, and although a sequel trilogy was part of the announcement, no one really knew what the next phase of series would cover, who would direct it, or which characters would appear in it. Some wondered if their favourite minor characters would get their chance to shine in standalone films or in adaptations of Expanded Universe properties, while others wondered if the new trilogy would focus on new characters, old characters, or a mix of both. Things have calmed down a little now, partly as we know slightly more about Disney's plans and intentions: JJ Abrams is in as director, and Disney have brought back almost the whole creative team from the original series, with John Williams, Lawrence Kasdan, Ben Burtt, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, and many others also announced as part of the new films. And yet still, Disney seems to not know exactly what it has on its hands here; it holds the keys to one of the greatest fictional universes in existence and the moves made so far suggest they don't know exactly what they should be doing to take advantage of that, as indicated by a disturbing trends that hint that Disney might not be realising the massive potential of these new films...

5. The Films Are Being Made Too Quickly

Ever since the news of the sale broke, it seems that Disney has been a bit overeager to get their newest prize franchise into theatres as soon as possible. Despite the announcement occurring in early 2012, Disney has decided to release the first entry during Christmas 2015, giving the filmmakers a little over three years to plan, write, shoot, and edit what will easily be some of the most massive productions of all-time. JJ Abrams has confirmed that the screenplay has been completed on schedule, despite the departure of original screenwriter Michael Arndt, and filming will begin this May. While this kind of schedule isn't too far out of the ordinary, it's slightly unnerving that one of the most anticipated blockbusters of all-time will go through pre-production, filming, editing, and release in a little over three years. It might not end up affecting the final product whatsoever, but it does seem a bit careless for Disney to not take as much time as necessary creating these films. If Disney get this right, they'll have a bigger hit than they'll know what to do with, but they might be making things unnecessarily difficult on themselves by rushing the process.