On Reddit, I saw a photo of what appears to be an (unconfirmed) Ollie’s toy rack, and I wanted to share it here because it’s pretty fun.
Yes, it’s anecdotal, don’t take it too seriously, but still… Click to see the chat about the state of Star Wars in 2024.
One lone 5h brother prevented this from being truly perfect.
The rumored Reva toy rack is a rumor in itself, but it could also be symptomatic of a once-very popular blockbuster franchise that now seems to be at its lowest point.
Whether you’re one of the two dozen fans acolyte Or one of the many who hated it – I’m sure no one can deny that the show was a complete failure and a ratings disaster on Disney+. The cost of a show (including marketing expenses, etc.) is close to $300 million. Worse, its morally dubious attitude toward Star Wars and blatant disregard for core Star Wars philosophy really pissed off a fair number of passionate, long-time Star Wars fans—and that’s before we talk about the script or the acting.
Hasbro’s partner brands business hit one record low after another. While we don’t know the numbers for Star Wars (or Marvel), the combined revenue from all partner brands is pitifully small, meaning each brand’s performance must also be quite small. Even taking into account Hasbro’s canceled licenses, by their own admission, only 50% of the revenue decline can be attributed to canceled licenses.
There’s also an embarrassing comedy of errors for Kathleen Kennedy, another film she’s announced. Rey’s movie increasingly feels like another mirage on the horizon. 18 months later (and this was after firing the first writing team), they still don’t have a script, and according to unconfirmed reports, it’s now even on hold indefinitely. The Taika Waititi movie is now officially off the air. Lando, a film project that was reportedly still in development after the show was axed, is currently in development hell and will never see the light of day. No one has said a single word about James Mangold’s take on the first Jedi film.
Let’s also not forget how a Vintage Collection HasLab limped across the finish line without even unlocking all the levels… only to be blown out of the water by GI Joe Haslab shortly after, which was a roughly 6-in. size vehicles. We should keep in mind the unsubstantiated rumors that Hasbro wants to pull out of the Star Wars license because it’s no longer worth it to them.
Then there are the big AAA blockbuster games Star Wars Desperados It turned out to be a complete dud. In its first month after release, Ubisoft only sold around a million copies of the game. This is an absolute disaster. It’s widely believed that this poor performance ultimately led to Ubisoft’s delay Assassin’s Creed Shadows months, because the perfect one-two punch of two consecutive failed games might have been too much for the embattled French video game publisher.
So where are we now?
Star Wars on Disney+ is no longer mainstream. That acolyte It remains, at least so far, the most successful original series to launch on Disney+ in 2024, which speaks volumes about the type of content Disney is putting on the platform. Yes, Agatha has always The ratings are even higher than acolyteas expected. But the series at least has Deadpool and Wolverine in theaters.
Star Wars feels like a series dying in the water, treading water, hoping not to drown, and then scrambling to try to reach shore again.
By 2024, Star Wars has failed on every front. Two (actually three) shows for 2024 released so far, bad batch and acolytefailed to engage viewers, and in this case acolyte It even directly angered many fans. The AAA Star Wars video game, the first true single-player open-world Star Wars game ever, was a commercial failure. and have a chance skeleton crew The ratings are even higher than acolyte Non-Zero on Disney+.
Oh and about the third show I’m talking about…if you look closely at the photo you’ll see the toys Adventures of Young Jedi Rot at the bottom. If you don’t even remember this as a thing, you’ll know why this is another failure. The show was picked up for a second season (animations are usually greenlit more than a season in advance), and the first episodes of the second season (11 in total) were released on Disney+ on August 14, just two months ago. The fact that you might not even know this is telling. No programming for preschoolers is now expected The Mandalorian Numbers, again Bluey Regardless, it’s very popular on Disney+. Those eleven episodes Adventures of Young Jedi Failure to crack the top 10 on streaming charts is another symptom. I wouldn’t be surprised if the second season is also the last. Chris Cocks has said that Hasbro is “bullish” on the show so it will have its own line of toys. Now it’s rotting at the bottom of the shelf, and Reva is the star of it. Well, this is anecdotal of course, but we all know how bad co-branded revenue can be, so it’s reasonable to assume Adventures of Young Jedi It was also a failure.
So, in some ways, Reva’s anecdotal photo—which hangs on a peg because no one wanted it—may be more symptomatic.
Star Wars’ last best hope is The Mandalorian. A lot depends on the film’s scheduled release date of May 2026. If this movie underperforms or even fails – and here I’d say anything under $500 million would be a disaster, and if it was in the $300 million area it would even be epic Catastrophe—it could sink Star Wars forever. On the other hand, if it succeeds and makes around $1 billion, it could also put Star Wars back on track again. Unless, of course, Rey’s movie finally gets made.
The bad thing is, things won’t get better until 2026. And it’s still 2024. Considering how long it will take now, 2027 won’t be a chance to see a truly popular Star Wars show on Disney+ again. By “popular” I mean something that is at least in: Obi-Wan Kenobi Ideally close to The Mandalorian number. As far as we know Andor Will be the only show in 2025. Ahsoka Filming will begin next year and a 2026 release is likely. Given that the number of releases will be significantly reduced, it appears Andor and Ahsoka That’s really the only thing we’re going to get in the next two years. So any potential Cal Kestis series or season 2 Obi-Wan Kenobi It could be released as early as 2027. Three long years later.
This was a very long and painful drought. Especially for licensees who rely on trending new content to drive sales.
But now, right here, all hell breaks loose for Star Wars 2024. Absolutely. Completely. Toys, shows, games…everything just doesn’t work anymore. This is really sad. But it certainly doesn’t need to be over. There is always a silver lining. But the biggest question is if The Mandalorian After the show single-handedly pulled Star Wars out of the abyss in 2019 and merchandise sales boomed for about two years, the movie could reinvigorate the franchise once again.
At this point, only one thing might help turn things around: if Disney announced sweeping changes to Lucasfilm’s leadership and several other key positions, hiring capable people and putting entertainment first, Really consider the fans and give them at least an outline. Lucasfilm and Disney must give up on sequels. Any attempt to somehow resolve this mess will be unsuccessful. We don’t need a show or movie to tell us how to get from A to B, and B is a complete disaster, and filling in the gaps doesn’t make “B” better. Luke is still a milk-sucking suicidal hermit, Leia is still going to die that way, Palpatine is still going to win and steal Skywalker’s name, and Han is still a loser father who was stabbed to death by his emotional son. etc. Nothing in the universe can solve this problem. Only starting over can help. restart. Otherwise 2024 might not be Star Wars’ nadir at all. Things can and will get better…but they can also get worse.
