Lucasfilm announces a new direction for the Star Wars EU

[Hound of UIster]

Do you really think that if they suddenly wiped the slate clean that the future sw related movies and tv shows will suddenly decide to try and maintain consistency with the plethora of future novel, games and comics? The previous system recognized there existed two fundamental flaws with any fictional shared universe 1) increasing amount of creators working within it will create inconsistencies and contradictions regardless of oversight and 2) some material will always be more canon or recognized than others. The problems had always been that higher ticket items like the television and movie productions will have precedence over the others. A reboot won't solve the problems when creator A is who a big shot screenwriter or producer doesn't want to follow stuff laid out beforehand by creator B who writes video games and rpgs. The editorial processes can't make A do anything so there has to exist a system to resolve these issues.

But then one must ask just how profitable have they been for Lucasfilm to date? Somewhat, sure, but when was the last time a Star Wars book was in the top 10 best sellers?

Are you aware of the law of diminishing returns?

 

[Reverend]

^Yes. Hence the last line of my previous post.

 

[Stephen!]

But then one must ask just how profitable have they been for Lucasfilm to date? Somewhat, sure, but when was the last time a Star Wars book was in the top 10 best sellers?

Some of them have been quite successful, such Kenobi and Darth Plagueis

 

[Masiral]

But then one must ask just how profitable have they been for Lucasfilm to date? Somewhat, sure, but when was the last time a Star Wars book was in the top 10 best sellers? Have any of them *ever* won the Hugo or Nebula Award?
Perhaps Disney thinks a quality over quantity approach will yield greater profits for a smaller, less diffuse investment.

Or perhaps within 10 years the new continuity will be an unmanageable mess again. Who can say?

Star Wars novels frequently hit the top 10 NY Times fiction (all fiction, not just sci-fi) list in their first week of sales - the last one was Fate of the Jedi: Apocalypse in March 2012.

ETA: http://www.csmonitor.com/Books/chapter-and-verse/2012/0326/Star-Wars-novels-still-on-bestseller-lists

 

[Reverend]

But then one must ask just how profitable have they been for Lucasfilm to date? Somewhat, sure, but when was the last time a Star Wars book was in the top 10 best sellers? Have any of them *ever* won the Hugo or Nebula Award?
Perhaps Disney thinks a quality over quantity approach will yield greater profits for a smaller, less diffuse investment.

Or perhaps within 10 years the new continuity will be an unmanageable mess again. Who can say?

Star Wars novels frequently hit the top 10 NY Times fiction (all fiction, not just sci-fi) list in their first week of sales - the last one was Fate of the Jedi: Apocalypse in March 2012.

ETA: http://www.csmonitor.com/Books/chapter-and-verse/2012/0326/Star-Wars-novels-still-on-bestseller-lists

Really? I was honestly under the impression that only one or two since 'Heir to the Empire' made any serious money. Must had read a poorly researched article at some point.

 

[cooleddie74]

Darth Plagueis by James Luceno didn't crack the Top 10? You'd think it would have with the widespread praise and great word of mouth the novel's gotten since its release.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

Darth Plagueis by James Luceno didn't crack the Top 10? You'd think it would have with the widespread praise and great word of mouth the novel's gotten since its release.

From the article linked to above:

Another novel connected with the "Star Wars" universe, “Darth Plagueis” by James Luceno, debuted at No. 4 on The New York Times combined fiction list this past January.

 

[cooleddie74]

Good. It deserves the success. It's one of the two or three best SW novels of the past ten years.

 

[F. King Daniel]

George Lucas, 2008:

[Howard Roffman] once said to me that there are two Star Trek universes: there's the TV show and then there's all the spin-offs. He said that these were completely different and didn't have anything to do with each other. So I said, "OK, go ahead."
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_canon

The Star Wars EU is based on the template laid down by Star Trek, who have always maintained that novels and other tie-ins weren't canon.

That said, I can understand why fans would be miffed that at 25+ year old continuity is just snuffed out instead of reaching any kind of finale.

 

[Corran Horn]

That said, I can understand why fans would be miffed that at 25+ year old continuity is just snuffed out instead of reaching any kind of finale.

welp - if Crucible wasn't a finale I don't know what could be considered a finale.

The big three basically say "We're tired. Time to rest."

 

[sojourner]

The 4 new books will be canon about as much as the old EU was. In other words, until contradicted in a movie.

Uh, that's not at all how it worked before.

That's exactly how it has worked. Regardless of what they may have said would happen.

 

[Mr Light]

I'm going to consider the Fate of the Jedi series to be the climax of the EU, and Crucible the epilogue.

"Apocalypse" was a pretty huge story, with the Sith and an ancient god-like Force user in control of Coruscant and the Jedi leading a brave rebellion against them resulting in Luke being severely weakened in his abilities.

 

[dansigal]

The 4 new books will be canon about as much as the old EU was. In other words, until contradicted in a movie.

Nope. This is only true if the old EU books were planned and written in conjunction with new movies being produced, which they were not. I think the new regime was pretty clear that these 4 books and those being written going forward are being planned to be incorporated into the continuity of the new trilogy. It's an overall planned structure to combine media in a way they did not do with the old EU, so it's entirely incorrect to make a statement that they are canon as much as the old EU were. It's a unique situation. Now once we're done with the trilogy and if they start producing more books that take place after them, maybe those will be over written (or maybe not), but for now we're looking at a different scenario.

 

[sojourner]

The 4 new books will be canon about as much as the old EU was. In other words, until contradicted in a movie.

Nope. This is only true if the old EU books were planned and written in conjunction with new movies being produced, which they were not. I think the new regime was pretty clear that these 4 books and those being written going forward are being planned to be incorporated into the continuity of the new trilogy. It's an overall planned structure to combine media in a way they did not do with the old EU, so it's entirely incorrect to make a statement that they are canon as much as the old EU were. It's a unique situation. Now once we're done with the trilogy and if they start producing more books that take place after them, maybe those will be over written (or maybe not), but for now we're looking at a different scenario.

Despite the word "nope", you seem to be agreeing that they will be canon until contradicted in a movie. Just as what has happened to parts of the EU.

 

[dansigal]

The 4 new books will be canon about as much as the old EU was. In other words, until contradicted in a movie.

Nope. This is only true if the old EU books were planned and written in conjunction with new movies being produced, which they were not. I think the new regime was pretty clear that these 4 books and those being written going forward are being planned to be incorporated into the continuity of the new trilogy. It's an overall planned structure to combine media in a way they did not do with the old EU, so it's entirely incorrect to make a statement that they are canon as much as the old EU were. It's a unique situation. Now once we're done with the trilogy and if they start producing more books that take place after them, maybe those will be over written (or maybe not), but for now we're looking at a different scenario.

Despite the word "nope", you seem to be agreeing that they will be canon until contradicted in a movie. Just as what has happened to parts of the EU.

No, you misread it, I said in the future, after this next trilogy is finished and they write books that take place post the new trilogy, THOSE may be contradicted, who knows how they will proceed there. But as for the 4 books that are the topic of this particular discussion, they are being planned as canon and to be incorporated into the continuity of the new trilogy, so they are canon in a way that the EU never were.

 

[Reverend]

The 4 new books will be canon about as much as the old EU was. In other words, until contradicted in a movie.

Uh, that's not at all how it worked before.

That's exactly how it has worked. Regardless of what they may have said would happen.

OK...where in any of the films have they adhered to EU material? And no, name dropping and cameos don't count for reasons I've already explained.

It seems you're having trouble grasping the notion that "canon unless contradicted" is a totally nonsensical concept. Being canon means it *can't* be contradicted outside of errors, oversights and deliberate retcons. Not that the events are non-contradictory, but actually *happened* as far as the films are concerned. That's the whole point. And again, no, saying all contradictions are inherently retcons is not a valid argument. Remember, "canon" is by definition a two-way street.

 

[sojourner]

Uh, that's not at all how it worked before.

That's exactly how it has worked. Regardless of what they may have said would happen.

OK...where in any of the films have they adhered to EU material? And no, name dropping and cameos don't count for reasons I've already explained.

You misunderstand. I'm agreeing with you. The books only hold up as canon until contradicted by a movie. In other words, they aren't really canon because the movies will never tie themselves to events from the books if it interferes with whatever they decide to make into a movie.

 

[Set Harth]

Perhaps Disney thinks a quality over quantity approach will yield greater profits for a smaller, less diffuse investment.

And how does Disney intend to ensure this higher level of quality? By waving Mickey's magic wand, perhaps?

 

[dansigal]

That's exactly how it has worked. Regardless of what they may have said would happen.

OK...where in any of the films have they adhered to EU material? And no, name dropping and cameos don't count for reasons I've already explained.

You misunderstand. I'm agreeing with you. The books only hold up as canon until contradicted by a movie. In other words, they aren't really canon because the movies will never tie themselves to events from the books if it interferes with whatever they decide to make into a movie.

You're ignoring the language of the press release though...

"On the screen, the first new canon to appear will be Star Wars Rebels. In print, the first new books to come from this creative collaboration include novels from Del Rey Books. First to be announced, John Jackson Miller is writing a novel that precedes the events of Star Wars Rebels and offers insight into a key character's backstory, with input directly from executive producers Dave Filoni, Simon Kinberg, and Greg Weisman.

And this is just the beginning of a creatively aligned program of Star Wars storytelling created by the collaboration of incredibly talented people united by their love of that galaxy far, far away...."

The collaboration for creating a unified story for what's in print and on screen makes this an entirely different type of situation than the EU ever was.

 

[Set Harth]

Books have been tied in with the films before. This is really nothing new.