Franchise Overkill: Star Wars vs Jurassic Park
Franchise Overkill is an episode that was inspired by the trailer for the upcoming movie Spacebars 2. The trailer is a Star Wars style opening crawl that poked fun at the trend of continually making more and more sequels, prequels and spinoffs rather than making fresh content. After the text fades into the distance, an ancient looking Mel Brooks appears on the screen and says something like, "We asked the fans what they wanted, and we made this movie instead."
Is it bad that Hollywood keeps pumping out more of the same? Maybe and maybe not. Some fictional worlds are better suited for extended story telling than others. The first episode in this series briefly compares the worlds of Jurassic Park with Star Wars. Here's a summary of Matt's thoughts.
Star Wars is a universe full of interesting characters with compelling stories. It makes sense to keep the Star Wars franchise going. The biggest problem for Star Wars is that George Lucas already told a universe spanning story that unfolded over many decades and even lifetimes if you count the secret work of the Sith during the High Republic Era that laid the ground work for Palatine's ascension. How does one top that? One option is to not try. Stories that focus on individuals like Andor, Asoka and the Mandalorian have been successful. There are plans to explore the origins of the Jedi and the old republic in a future trilogy. As Yoda might say. An epic tale that will be.
Jurassic Park is literally imprisoned on a tiny island. The franchise is not set up for expansion. That being said, the most recent entry into the Jurassic Park movie-verse grossed a whopping 800 million dollars. As long as audiences continue buying tickets, the show will go on.
