In 1977 the irrepressible success of Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope and Lucasfilm (not yet passed under the wing of Disney) led the studios to create their own adventures in a Galaxy Far, Far Away. But what was the result?
Disney’s production intent was focused on an adult audience with The Black Hole, a sci-fi film directed by Gary Nelson and considered by most to be “an answer” to George Lucas’ Star Wars. We are talking about Disney’s most expensive bet of the time with a budget of 20 million dollars to earn from it 36 million at the box office: a major success at the box office but strictly limited if we think about how The Black Hole never evolved into a real saga.
The story of the discovery of a spaceship missing for some time and the intention to challenge a black hole was not strong enough to develop a franchiseand, which Star Wars continued with determination. Beyond its commercial successes, in fact, The Black Hole was unable to win over critics or completely absorb the climate of space adventures which thus led Disney to abandon any expansion ambitions. Although the studios considered developing a remake of The Black Hole, the project was never completed.
With the acquisition of Lucasfilm way back in 2012, Disney is increasingly expanding the Star Wars franchise with new films and TV series: after the sequel trilogy, Daisy Ridley is ready to return as Rey in Star Wars: New Jedi Order.
On Princess Mononoke (Steelbook Blu-ray DVD) It is one of today’s best sellers.
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