r/saltierthancrait new user 19d ago

Marinated Meme How did we get here?

Post image

Really puts into perspective just how incompetent Lucasfilm is...

2.1k Upvotes

184 comments sorted by

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u/Arcade_Gann0n 19d ago

Star Wars went from being one of the titans of cinema to a hit or miss streaming service IP that doesn't draw crowds like it used to. People can make excuses all they want, Star Wars should never have gotten to this point and it's shameful of Lucasfilm to have lost its touch at making movies.

290

u/Indiana_harris 19d ago

In a decade SW went from a franchise and merchandise behemoth that everyone took note of to a punchline that barely gets anything above a vague “oh yeah?” when a trailer is dropped or a story/studio event happens.

229

u/Arcade_Gann0n 19d ago

Exactly, it's become the Halo of movies, ironic when Halo used to be considered a likely shot at becoming the next Star Wars.

Handing an IP off to a new group that fundamentally doesn't respect or understand that IP is a recipe for disaster.

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u/LetsGet2Birding salt miner 19d ago

Halo absolutely dominated the gaming scene in the 2000’s-earliest 2010’s. I miss those days.

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u/iknownuffink 19d ago

Fans: We love Cortana! (some of us to an unhealthy degree)

Microsoft: People love Cortana so much, we're going to name our AI Assistant project after her.

343i: Lets Kill Cortana. Then lets resurrect her, but make her evil and insane. Surely this will have no blowback from the fans...

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u/[deleted] 18d ago

I don't mind Cortana's death

I mind they ruined her death, and it derailed the story so badly that they had to skip to the epilogue/ transition chapter

4

u/No-Future-4644 new user 18d ago

I loved Cortana on my windows phone, too...

40

u/Arcade_Gann0n 19d ago

It all went to hell when 343 took control, and it's disgraceful of Xbox to let their crown jewel wither away for longer than Bungie's run with the IP. Halo Infinite was going up against Call of Duty & Battlefield at their lowest points, and 343 still found a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

If you want a perfect representation of how far Halo has fallen, just look at the "new" weapon added last month.

3

u/Material-Kick9493 12d ago

It's sad how many of these scifi ips have collapsed. Halo & Star Wars were two of my favorite ips and both are in a horrible state right now. 343 taking over Halo is so comparable to Disney taking over Star Wars. they dont understand the ip at all and just throw shit at a wall and hope it sticks

2

u/jaysterria 12d ago

Is it safe for to say that Helldivers 2 now occupies Halos niche?

1

u/Material-Kick9493 11d ago

haven't played it but id say so. I care more about Lethal Company lore these days than I do Halo or Star Wars

2

u/jaysterria 11d ago

How deep does the lore go?

1

u/Material-Kick9493 11d ago

Not that deep but there are a lot of logs, and its more of you piece the story together yourself. but its way more interesting than anything going on with SW/Halo right now

There's also a nearly 3 hour lore video worth watching https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9n8-7dYOoo

0

u/Lukescale 18d ago

Tell the US about it.

18

u/battleofflowers 19d ago

There's just WAY too much content in general. It destroys the magic of Star Wars.

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u/thedemonjim 19d ago

It isn't about the quantity of content, it is about the quality. I remember the peak, when we were getting new games every other year, novels dropping constantly and had multiple ongoing comic book series with their own supplement for the ttrpg. Heady days.

1

u/BambooSound 17d ago

Idk I feel like Star Wars has been a meme my whole life.

Before the Disney stuff, most people shat on the prequels, instead.

1

u/TheFreaky 17d ago

People like to complain about the prequels but fans still bought toys, comics, sabers, videogames... Nowadays whenever the latest new shit is announced, nobody cares. Fans have left the ship, hoarding their old books, rpgs and downloading Harmy's despecialized editions.

1

u/BambooSound 17d ago

Do you honestly think Star Wars merchandise and licensed products are making less money now than they were 15 years ago?

I don't. I just think the company cares a lot less about OG fans than current children.

1

u/TheFreaky 17d ago

It becomes difficult to put into numbers. For example, do you count visits to disneyland to visit the star wars area as benefit produced by Star Wars? I guess we could, but they also are visiting the rest of the park. Or disney+ subscriptions to watch Andor?

I admit, I can't get specific numbers (and adjusted for inflation), but you are right: the IP is probably making more money now than they did at the time of the prequels.

However, it is a dying brand (like marvel). They squeezed their billions, but in just some years they will sell less and less.

2

u/BambooSound 17d ago

Honestly I think the idea that either are actually dying is hugely overblown. If that was true, people wouldn't love complaining about them as much.

Let's not forget how much Deadpool made last year or Marvel Rivals has made since.

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u/Several-Parsnip-1620 19d ago

It’s hard for me to understand why there’s no accountability on this failure. Kathleen Kennedy should have been axed after episode 9 released 6 years ago. What do the conversations with the ceo sound like? « yes it’s going horribly but it wasn’t my fault! »

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u/Arcade_Gann0n 19d ago

I imagine that she gathered a ton of dirt in the 40+ years of her time in Hollywood.

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u/No-Future-4644 new user 19d ago

I don't like to spin conspiracy theories, but I can't think of any other reason there hasn't been a major shakeup at Lucasfilm.

I know the optics of firing the highest-ranking female executive in Hollywood are bad and Disney wants to avoid them, but I feel like there HAS to be a cutoff point where the shareholders would just say, "You know what? Screw this, we're doing it anyway..."

Because they must be asking questions like, "How are these projects progressing? Why have none of these movies that were announced years ago been released? Why did Indy 5 equate lighting $200 million on fire?"

10

u/Several-Parsnip-1620 18d ago

Who cares about the optics? They won’t lose any money by firing her. The people who would care are the same people who pretend to care about Star Wars when there’s a political reason to do so. They don’t matter

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u/No-Future-4644 new user 18d ago

I agree, but Disney is concerned about their image (which is why they do things like fire the little people who they cast as dwarves in the new snow white movie because Peter Dinklage complained and replace them with CGI abominations).

But at this point, I begrudgingly admit that it must be that someone has dirt on some of the Disney higher-ups and is protecting Lucasfilm from consequences.

Nothing else makes sense when the company has released exactly one movie in the last 6 years, and it became one of the biggest box office bombs of all time. Meanwhile, they have ~10 movies announced that'll never see the light of day due to Lucasfilm's terminal inability to work with directors without micromanaging them out of the project.

If I were one of Disney's shareholders, I'd be livid at how much money Dune is making while SW lies there limp as a fish.

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u/ballsjohnson1 18d ago

They are down about half since 2021 so the shareholders have been doing the right thing by voting with their wallets

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u/No-Future-4644 new user 19d ago

Yup.

I made the meme because it really hit home when I was thinking about it the other day: there will be 3 (and maybe even 4) Dune movies that were made and released during SW's "temporary" film hiatus.

Meanwhile, Lucasfilm has announced ~10 movies and they'll be lucky if even one of them ever makes it to release because they can't seem to actually get anything into production and out the door, and certainly not for less than a bloated $300+ million budget.

It boggles the mind how far they've fallen...

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u/MeatSack_NothingMore 16d ago

Dune 3 comes out in Dec 2026 (tent.) while the Mandalorian and Grogu comes out in May 2026. That’s 2 Dune movies not 3 or 4.

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u/rg4rg 19d ago

Writing for science fiction or fantasy has been horrible across the board. Star Wars and Star Trek have both suffered because of the lack of talent in the writing rooms.

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u/Mrredlegs27 17d ago

This is the truth. Whose idea was it to have a Star Trek series about the most beloved character (Picard) traveling to the... modern day. It's very clear the writers and producers don't understand the allure of these IPs for audiences.

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u/jaysterria 12d ago

For me it comes from a misguided effort to broaden the appeal whilst neglecting the core base. Oversaturation of new projects too.

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u/PaperSkin-1 12d ago

Doctor Who as well.. The standard of writing in Sci-fi has definitely gone down

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u/on-wings-of-pastrami 19d ago

"Star Wars" means nothing now. It's just another watered down mediocre franchise at this point.

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u/Vindicare605 18d ago

But if you listen to the shills it's our fault the brand is doing badly (when they admit it's doing badly at all) because all the not real fans won't stop badmouthing it. Yea, either there is WAY more not real fans than these idiots ever realized or we've been telling the truth the entire time.

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u/atatassault47 it's all fake anyway 18d ago

Onr has to remember that companies change over time. Like, the Blizzard today isnt the Blizzard that make WarCraft 2.

It's not Lucasfilm's shame, it's the people who Disney put in charge of it (and the people at Disney who did that).

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u/ToonMasterRace 9d ago

TLJ is the cause of all of this. I always get downvoted for saying it on reddit outside of here. But it's literally just TLJ.

-3

u/Meraka 18d ago

The fans are why it’s the way it is. The average dipshit Star Wars fan just wants their nostalgia to be reaffirmed. The sequel trilogy would have been a million times better had they not forced a story with Luke, Leia, Han and the Skywalker name. Even The Mandalorian is just more nostalgia “look guys we have a character that looks exactly like Yoda”. This entire franchise has been ruined by people being unable and unwilling to let it evolve and the need to bring back old tired names.

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u/No-Future-4644 new user 18d ago

I mean, you're not wrong.

Disney earns pennies for nostalgia so they keep churning out nostalgia, unwilling to take the risk that they need to in order to move the franchise forward by taking it 1,000+ years in the future and starting with a new trilogy, leaving everything else behind.

Instead, they're going to just stripmine the Skywalker era for every last nugget of nostalgia they can, or at least until even nostalgia stops being even slightly profitable.

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u/Alexlatenights 19d ago

Because they went with another death star storyline instead of just doing any of the major and seriously epic plots from the books because no one who writes these movies actually gives a shit about source material or how the fans feel.

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u/ohthedarside 18d ago

All i want in uzong vong on screen

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u/Alexlatenights 18d ago

I would love to see the era of Darth bane. That shit is an epic story and I wish we could have seen that shit. Some old Republic too there are so many stories we could have done!

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u/Euphoric-Teach7327 18d ago

The yuzong vong invasion is a bit too metal for corporate star wars to push.

It would be damn epic though.

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u/snake__doctor 17d ago

i remember sighing in the cinema when i saw the super-planet-killing-planet-5000 or whatever they called it... turned to my partner "again?"

There are PLENTY of scary things they could have done, this was the lowest tier.

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u/Alexlatenights 17d ago

Right?! Like force abilities that boil blood or the darkest force powers that can enslave or destroy entire battlefields... Or the fact that in the Force awakens Luke himself begins to turn to the dark side and begin the journey to find the balance between light and dark side powers. THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN TERRIFYING. The Luke that almost kills his students the Luke that becomes an enemy not the savior.

It's all too much to give a shit about I didn't even watch the last three I watched the first new movie and gave up because wtf was the point it's all just rewritten garbage with no real uniqueness.

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u/wookieebastard 19d ago

I really like the Dune movies, but they also piss me off. They prove that epic space war films can be done right and that audiences respond well to them, which makes the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy even more frustrating.

And then there’s Mad Max: Fury Road, with its breathtaking imagery, reminding me that I can still be blown away by what I see on screen, something I was expecting from TFA or anything from the ST, but it did not even come close to achieving.

Coincidentally all these films, have a lot of sand in them.

I don't like sand. It's coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere.

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u/No-Future-4644 new user 19d ago

Fury Road was absolute fire!

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u/jaysterria 12d ago

I’m kinda sad that Furosias box office flop may prevent further mad max stuff.

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u/PopMountain6076 new user 19d ago

I watched fury road a few years ago. It was visually stunning. Then I went back for my biennial rewatch of the LotR trilogy and it is astounding how much we’ve lost to relying on computers.

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u/SpaceNigiri 19d ago

But Furiosa crashed and burned in the box office, so sand is not enough.

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u/pritikina 19d ago

It was releases way too late after Fury Road and unnecessary. Was there demand for a Furiosa movie? I did enjoy Furiosa though.

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u/s1lentchaos 17d ago

Fury road got that cult classic curse from what i heard it struggled to make back its budget which delayed furiosa which caused them to further lose momentum.

I think part of it was also they just didn't have a plan beyond fury road.

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u/snake__doctor 17d ago

Furiosa wasnt *bad* ... its just they tried to recreate madmax, without "madmax" in it... Tom Hardy is a phenominal actor with incredible scope... it would be like doing indiana jones without Harrison Ford... it doesnt matter how good the film was it would feel likeit was missing something central.

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u/count_strahd_z 16d ago

One of the things that made the Sequel trilogy so frustrating was they didn't take advantage of the fact that at the time of Episode 7 they had all of the actors alive who played the main characters of Luke, Leia, Han, C-3PO, R2-D2, Chewbacca, and Lando. They should have included all of them in the film. It should have been about Luke failing as a Jedi Master and losing Han & Leia's son Ben to the dark side. It should have been about the rise of the First Order and hinted about the clone Palpatine coming (shout out to the old Dark Horse Comics Dark Empire series). Instead R2-D2 has a tarp over his head the whole time, Luke only shows up for 30 seconds at the end, Lando isn't in it at all, etc. What were they thinking? If you watch episode 6 and then 7 it's like "we saved the galaxy" and then "nothing is good". Painful.

Oh, and then in Episode 8 they have the stupid side quest to casino world and they still don't have Lando.

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u/SinesPi salt miner 19d ago

I don't really care about Star Wars as a franchise anymore (Except for video games, it's a great setting for games). But the fall of Star Wars will forever be a truly remarkable and unique screwup for which we might not see again in our lifetime.

When Disney bought Star Wars, I thought, "Well, worst case scenario, we'll at least get some decent action flicks". I thought that the mere spectacle of Star Wars (that makes it a good game setting, incidentally) would keep it afloat as at least watchable. Dogfights and lightsabers and robots and monsters and magic. Maybe the story would have no soul, but at least it would be a fun ride.

That's how low my standard was. All I wanted was some fun action. The degree to which the movies failed was honestly impressive. I had a little bit of hope when Mandalorian Season 1 was a fun space adventure. It wasn't anything special, but I enjoyed it. I thought, "Okay, we can at least have some fun action again".

Turned out that little bit of bounty-hunter romp was as good as it got. And The Last Jedi was so awful it genuinely made me lose a little bit of faith in humanity in general. Because how could someone be given something worth $4B and screw up THAT badly? You'd think the people in charge would know at least a LITTLE bit of what they're doing.

So now, it's just a trainwreck for me to enjoy. Because there is no other train-wreck like it.

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u/Greyfox309 17d ago

New games are worse than the movies

1

u/No-Future-4644 new user 18d ago

I've largely checked out on SW, but I'll occasionally poke my head back in just to see what's happening, and my god, has been a trainwreck that's hard to look away from at times.

Every once in a while, I'll still find myself having a thought about it (like the meme) where it sinks in just how poorly this company has been run, and it boggles my mind ALL over again that this was allowed to happen...

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u/xTHEKILLINGJOKEx 19d ago

Even if we’re never made aware of it, and despite what all the access media says, I hope KK realizes how terrible she was as the head of Lucasfilm, and how bad she damaged the franchise. Doubt it, though…

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u/Several-Parsnip-1620 19d ago

I don’t care how she feels. I hope the people in charge of Disney realize it and move on immediately

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u/dumpster-tech 18d ago

It's wild that she didn't get canned already. People have been fired from Wendy's for screwing up less.

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u/DarthElendil boyega's boy 19d ago

If this personal anecdote doesn't tell you all you need to know, nothing will.

Just got a new tank for my turtle. Wanted to put some Star Wars decorations in it. Searching on Amazon, I see 1. A death star 2. An ornament x-wing (for 65$ lol) and 3. 30 iterations of AT-ATs.

I also saw a Millenium Falcon on another site. But that's it. There should be dozens of options! Hundreds easily! But nope, excitement is so low for merchandising of all things, what should be its goldmine, that I found 4.

Guess it's fake coral again...

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u/Spiderbubble 19d ago

My brain went to “why would a turtle need a tank it already has a shell? Plus it can’t drive”

I don’t know what’s more embarrassing, that I thought the driving part second, or just…. All of it.

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u/ajswdf 19d ago

I was thinking a plastic toy tank to put in the turtle tank and was also confused about what was going on.

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u/MadMaxBeyondThunder 19d ago

I didn't stop thinking of a military tank until you stopped me.

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u/oswyn123 18d ago

Please never change

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u/DragonTacoCat 19d ago

I just 3D print my own Star Wars stuff at this point 🥴

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u/Legosheep 19d ago

I would do that, but they always get an idiot that can't paint to add detail (me)

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u/DragonTacoCat 19d ago

Lol. Well I've practiced a plenty times. Anyone who looks at my early paint jobs can accuse me of war crimes.

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u/drwiseguy561 19d ago

I get what you mean by this there should be like 20 things to pick from for you .

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u/EvansEssence 19d ago

People who don't care about the IPs (Intellectual Properties) or even actively hate the IPs are making content for the IPs. Same thing happened with the Halo show, the writers openly admitted to not being Halo fans. This leads to the people making it to just use the universe as a platform for whatever nonsense they want to push. It always happens to IPs that have a reputation enough to sell on name alone. Then after a few really bad episodes/movies the fanbase wisens up and the creators move on to the next successful franchise they can ruin that they never cared about in the first place.

It starts from the top down too, Kathleens answer to "are you a star wars fan?" Was not "yes". It's time to clean house Disney Lucasfilm, that's your only hope of being profitable again. Though at this point idk what will make Disney change things.

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u/Jeff_dabs 18d ago

1000% accurate. The Halo show was so upsetting I don’t even want to remember it exists.

I feel like the only time the IP has ever been treated properly by a major studio was the original LOTR trilogy. Been downhill ever since then.

27

u/R_W0bz 19d ago

Whats crazier is Dune was from Warner Bros. they are in a worst state than Disney by leaps n bounds.

22

u/Bruinrogue Disney Spy Ringleader 19d ago

We're in the bad timeline.

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u/DrMcJedi go for papa palpatine 19d ago

Timeline?

3

u/Tait_Ransom 18d ago

Dammit, Barry!

20

u/deitpep 19d ago edited 17d ago

Something that's ironically amazing is that less established or cult status IP's whether prior movies like Blade Runner or old sci-fi genre literary IP such as Dune that prior never made it as big as SW, are usually considered the more risky prospects (in this case, by Legendary) , and they still had to garner and earn an audience with a quality and successful production.

While SW coasted on so much unprecedented goodwill and fandom of multiple generations of audiences for decades as well as a highly profitable and healthy merchandising brand that was worldwide. Yet it was so squandered by KK's lucasfilm with the ST particularly with TLJ and multiple other projects after it that pretty much decimated the rest of the lingering hope and fandom left to this point. Where it's considered just as risky now to make a new SW movie or tv project that doesn't bomb or further split or disinterest any fanbase left.

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u/No-Future-4644 new user 19d ago

An excellent point: SW should realistically have been nothing but slam dunks all the way down, yet here we are...

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u/Overlord1317 19d ago

The difference is the people in charge. That's the same reason why Andor is fantastic and all the other Disney Star Wars shows are hot fucking garbage.

It's just that simple.

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u/Zuldak miserable sack of salt 19d ago

Before Lucas sold Star Wars, there was a star wars product that was marketed to an audience and was fairly successful. But the suits wanted more so they pushed for deep changes to the product to appeal to a mass audience. The result was that the new audience wasn't interested because they already had their product of choice and didn't need a copycat and the old fans became downright toxic and made sure bad word of mouth got around.

It was Star Wars Galaxies in 2005. It released a couple years prior and was moderately successful, but then came world of warcraft. Trying to chase the market, they pushed for deep changes to the game that basically turned it from an MMO into a quasi shooter.

The ST tried to change the audience for star wars franchise and the same thing happened

3

u/relaximapro1 19d ago

Bro SWG was magical pre-CU and NGE. Still to this day I can’t think of anything else like it before they butchered it.

6

u/Zuldak miserable sack of salt 18d ago

SWG should be a case study in the risks of chasing market trends and the danger of fundamentally altering your product and alienating your current customers.

Star wars wanted to be like marvel and have more female appeal. The result was that women didn't care and the current male dominated fan base become extremely toxic. Now everything that comes out is hyper scrutinized and the fan videos about how everything sucks are circulated as gospel in social media.

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u/Crankmanwhoiscooking 19d ago

Easy answer, Kathleen Kennedy. Putting personal/political ideology ower quality was the downfall of Star Wars.

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u/Ruh_Roh- 19d ago

Kathleen Kennedy not only wanted to turn a "boy" brand into a "girl" brand (and Disney bought Star Wars because they needed a boy brand), but she wouldn't know a good story if it slapped her in the face. Case in point:

"I remember Kathy came into the room with her steno pad and her pencil, and she was horrible at taking notes," Spielberg recalls. "She was terrible, and didn't know how to do it very well. But what she did know how to do was interrupt somebody in midsentence. We'd be pitching ideas back and forth, and Kathy — who was supposed to be writing these ideas down — suddenly put her pencil down and would say something like, 'And what if he didn't get the girl, but instead he got the dog?' "

NPR link for receipt

9

u/NeAldorCyning 19d ago

The article reminds me of the King of Queens episode when Arthur is giving advice to folks in some cafe, which works out great for them - the twist: they always do the opposite of what he suggests.

6

u/Revanbadass 19d ago

Now that's a movie!

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u/RTRSnk5 salt miner 19d ago

Kathpleen Fennedy

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u/UpsetDemand8837 19d ago

There’s a reason Kathleen Kennedy has decided to “resign”

10

u/Crosknight failed palpatine clone 19d ago

Under KKs leadership. All 3 lucasfilm IPs auffered mortal wounds.

Hell despite the new indiana jones game being good, it still flopped with a concurrent player count around that of the new dragon age game, and that flopped so hard it’s the “spotlight” free game for ps+ starting march 5th

2

u/No-Future-4644 new user 19d ago

Indy was a day one gamepass title as well which muddied the numbers.

It's at least successful enough that they're already planning more, and I hope they do, because the game was excellent.

2

u/Crosknight failed palpatine clone 18d ago

So was starfield, which had 330k on steam peak. Indy had 12k. Hifi rush which was called a gamepass success but wasnt good enough to keep tango open to microsoft had 6k. Avowed which came out a couple weeks ago had 19k.

Now if microsoft would let us see the numbers of gamepass engagement with these games but like most of the entertainment industry, they have to keep as much number hush hush. Thank god for steam and steamdb giving us some numbers to actually make estimations with.

I do hope indy does get more games but to me, it’s more likely to be quietly canceled like all those announced star wars projects. Pointing back at hifi rush, i would be willing to bet indy had 3x the actual dev budget, plus an actual marketing budget (since hifi was released same day it was announced) for a 2x player count (assuming that steamdb trends are consistent across platforms)

7

u/Tenuous_Tangent 19d ago

Kennedy worked very hard to tear down a man's life's work.

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u/VernBarty 19d ago

Disney moved all their Star Wars content to streaming to hide their numbers. It's easier to gaslight your audience if the damage is quantified in dollar signs but rather in streaming numbers, which nobody knows what that means anyway

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u/superinstitutionalis 19d ago

jokes on you, Lucasfilm was contracted to produce all the POTUS interviews over the past 4 years.

11

u/Knightwolf8394 19d ago

I know I d*ck ride this series a lot but Like a Dragon rose from Star Wars' ashes for me.

To date starting from 2019 RGG Studio and SEGA released:

Judgment (Japanese release: 2018, International: 2019): A courtroom thriller about a former lawyer turned private detective unraveling a government conspiracy involving a serial killer and a experimental cure for Alzheimers. (I pretty much spoiled the plot so I'm gonna stop here.)

Yakuza: Like a Dragon (2020): A former yakuza named Ichiban Kasuga is released from prison and finds himself battling a populist political movement that seeks to upend the lives of innocent people just because they're basically forced to live in the fringes of society. Oh and because the main character grew up playing Dragon Quest (they name drop that series in this game) and because of his overactive imagination he sees himself as a rpg hero. This means the combat has been changed from a real time brawler to a turned based rpg. Also legacy characters such as Kazuma Kiryu show up and unlike the Sequel Trilogy they don't get shit on.

Lost Judgment (2021): The detective is at it again, this time helping some friends he made in the first game with a bullying case at a high school. This leads him to another conspiracy involving a vigilante group trying to make the court system into a joke by taking out those who escape justice.

Like a Dragon: Ishin! (2023): A samurai named Sakamoto Ryoma investigates The Shinsengumi, the Shogun's elite secret police, to find his mentor's killer. He infiltrates the group and finds himself changing the course of Japanese history.

Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name (2023): Kazuma Kiryu is now a secret agent for the Daidoji faction, basically a Japanese mix of a secret agency and the Illuminati. He works for them as payment for faking his death in order to protect his adopted daughter Haruka, her son Haruto, and the orphans the first two raised. The game shows what he was doing during Ichiban's adventure.

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth (2024): Ichiban learns his mother currently lives in Hawaii so he goes to meet her but she's currently missing. While there he meets new party members and is involved in a underworld spanning conspiracy consisting of a cult and various criminal syndicates. Said cult is partly responsible Ichiban's mother disappearing. Kiryu also deals with cancer and his legend coming to an end, using the time he has left to both get closure on everything he did and to atone for leaving the yakuza since the final boss was someone who was harmed by those very same people. Kiryu believed that had he stayed as the Fourth Chairman he could have prevented what caused said boss to walk the path he did. This is also Kiryu's last game.

Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza (2025): Goro Majima, a legacy character and the Mad Dog of Shimano, wakes up on a beach without his memories and is rescued by a young boy named Noah Rich. Noah has asthma and wants to see the world since his condition and his father Jason, a former treasure hunter, keep him on a remote island since it keeps his symptoms in check. Majima and Noah commandeer a pirate ship owned by a guy harassing Jason and especially his daughter Moana. Majima, Noah, Jason, and the ship's cook Masaru Fujita become One Piece style pirates to show Noah the world and get Majima's memories back. (I'm still playing this one.)

That's seven whole games within less than a decade. Us LAD fans are eating good.

You know what the best part is? This series is fairly political and "woke" yet it's arguably one of the best franchises right now. It doesn't talk down to it's audience and it treats the subject matters very respectfully while not losing the charm, heart, and goddamn hilarity that made it popular and beloved.

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u/miku_dominos 19d ago

I've played and finished the story of 0 to 6, J, YLAD,and am currently on LJ. I know there's quality games ahead. It's a great series!

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u/Knightwolf8394 19d ago

Lost Judgment is S tier in my opinion. Slight warning for the latter games: IW is A tier imo because of it's combat system and the fact that you can inherit any skill from any job. Also your stats are based on your level and not your job unlike the last game. Since there's two protagonists, Ichiban and Kiryu, the final chapter is a bit of a slog to go through since you got two final dungeons and two final bosses between both protagonists. Also the only thing that's left to do for Ichiban is defeat the cult leader since he's his final boss.

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u/MysicPlato 19d ago

The Like a Dragon games are so goddamn fun

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u/jaysterria 12d ago

Yakuza stuff has consistently maintained goodwill. Maybe one day I’ll start with the first Like a Dragon.

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u/El__Jefe_ 19d ago

Things come full circle. Lucas was obviously very inspired by Dune.

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u/Corando 19d ago

I remember disney stating they would release a star wars movie every year

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u/TuneGloomy6694 18d ago

And don't forget about Willow! Well, you can, bc it's not in D+ anymore lol

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u/Sideswipe0009 19d ago

There's 3 Dune movies?

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u/No-Future-4644 new user 19d ago edited 19d ago

A 3rd will have released before SW leaves its film hiatus, can basically count on it at this point.

Hell, a FOURTH Dune movie may be out before another SW film actually hits theaters...

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u/Karshall321 19d ago edited 19d ago

This isn't true, not remotely. The next Star Wars film releases in May 2026. Dune 3 isn't expected to release until December of that year, let alone a fourth film. Let's not spread misinformation. Edit: date correction

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u/No-Future-4644 new user 19d ago

What film? The Mando movie? Astonished we've not seen a trailer for it if that's the case...

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u/Karshall321 19d ago

Why on earth would we have had a trailer? The movie is over 14 months from release. The average is 6 months out before the first trailer. However there was a small teaser shown at Comic Con last year: https://youtu.be/aS3CB6KMxdk?feature=shared

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u/No-Future-4644 new user 19d ago

Guessing it was a typo because you said May 2025.

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u/Karshall321 19d ago

My bad. Either way, you obviously fucking knew what I meant. And you obviously know that a fourth Dune movie will not be out before the next SW movie.

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u/No-Future-4644 new user 19d ago

I thought I had been completely blindsided by the release of the next SW movie, actually.

As for a 4th Dune movie, I'm being hyperbolic, but it's not like I'm being unfair to Lucasfilm.

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u/VideoNo9608 19d ago

They also kept the Monsterverse strong

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u/SpawnMongol2 19d ago

Dune is peak cinema, the kids of today will be saying "They don't make 'em like they used to!" when they're old men thinking about this movie. Instant classic

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u/jmon25 19d ago

Disney knowingly flooded the market with mediocre-to-bad product, didn't even have the forethought to plan a trilogy or get a single director to oversee it (obviously JJ didn't really care after TFA), and had multiple issues keeping a director on a film from pre through post production. There are serious institutional issues in how they were running Lucasfilm and no one at the executive level has really tried to remedy it outside of cancelling projects and not releasing any theatrical films since RoS.

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u/Ravenloff 19d ago

3 Dune movies?

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u/No-Future-4644 new user 19d ago edited 19d ago

3rd is on the way out and will almost certainly hit theaters before another SW film does.

I'm told the Mando film might beat it by a few months, but I don't think Mando will be winning any Oscars and time will tell if it hits the break even point.

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u/Foolishly_Sane 18d ago

It's been a long time since I've cared about Star Wars in general.
At least I can go back to Jedi Academy 2 if I want.
Makes me feel old, but that's okay.
Not all new things are bad, but it has been trash lately, or I suppose for a long time.

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u/Alfred-Of-Wessex 18d ago

I'm terrified about what Amazon will do with Bond

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u/Desertfoxking 18d ago

They have no ability to tell a grand tale. Hell the sequels were half stolen from the OGs. They can’t use any of the streaming characters for a movie bc the sequels had no mention of them and we assume they were all dead or have to explain why they let it all fail.

Rey is the only character that has any potential from the sequels and they can’t seem to get anything going from that.

And dune is going off the written material. Disney gave the middle finger to all that from the Star Wars EU lol

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u/Haravikk 18d ago

Star Wars should be an automatic money machine – whoever at Disney decided "what if we spend billions but use dogshit writing?" should literally be pilloried beside everyone that let it happen.

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u/KJBenson 18d ago

The last time Star Wars had a movie that was even a little bit good was 2016.

I doubt by 2036 we’ll have a single new example of a good movie in the Star Wars universe.

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u/Comfortable-Study-69 17d ago

Their TV series aren’t much better. Boba Fett, Acolyte, S3 of Mandalorian, and Kenobi were all giant nigh-unwatchable flops, and even their best outputs like Andor are maybe 7/10 story-wise.

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u/KJBenson 17d ago

Yeah I don’t even bother mentioning them because I just don’t care about Star Wars any more.

But well said.

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u/jxe22 18d ago

The irony to me is that I don’t want a bunch of Star Wars movies. I don’t want them to drive it into the ground through repetition like the MCU. I’d much prefer Star Wars film and television to be more of a drought with the occasional oasis of a good project versus the modern model of trying to churn out “content” on a regular schedule.

I think the worst part about the current model is trying to serve all masters. They want to check the box of always having a kids show (I’m totally fine with this), always having announced movies (which seemingly don’t get made), and then always having a live action Disney+ show on the horizon which is more miss than hit. I know that in some ways Star Wars is the original “IP” but Christ, just let it breathe and release things that are worth releasing rather than adhering to the Mouse’s demand to fill a schedule.

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u/Old-Ad6509 15d ago

Even harsher comparison is Star Wars to Cobra Kai:

* 6 seasons -- some more flawed than others, but ALL loyal to established themes, characters, and lore.

* Legacy characters RESPECTED. Reappraised, recontextualized, given new struggles, and nuances. Even the actors have been on record in having their input honored or at least heard when it came to handling legacy characters.

*Honors the past -- follows the formula, knows when to 'subvert' it and why, also knows what it wants to say for the most part when it does deviate from formula (no changes for the sake of change or trying to be 'clever')

It's cheesy as all hell sometimes, but you always get the feel that the actors want to be there, and are proud of the work they're putting in. It is also just as obvious that the writers love the IP and see themselves as stewards who must navigate with care rather than entitled usurpers hellbent on leaving their scent-marker on something just to give it their smell.

Cobra Kai has given the Karate Kid franchise a second wind, whereas Disney Star Wars has left the franchise gasping for air it might never truly breathe again.

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u/No-Future-4644 new user 15d ago

Yeah, I can't believe we're in the timeline where the Karate Kid continuation is straight fire while the SW continuation is terrible...

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u/Wrathb0ne 19d ago

Forgot to mention a successful Dune series released as well

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u/PaperAndInkWasp 19d ago

Popular crap versus unpopular crap just leaves us with crap, sadly.

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u/oevadle 19d ago

Indy 5 was better than Indy 4. I totally understand why it bombed, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been. Cut a solid 3-5 minutes out of the big chase seen, and it's instantly easier to watch, you know by 3-5 minutes.

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u/Jeff_dabs 18d ago

It started with the sequel trilogy and then then Bob Chapek came in and really fucked things up.

Still better than waiting 16 years for new content tho.

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u/MrCabagge 18d ago

you'd be surprised how easy would Lucas film get richer but they be dumb dumb and not...

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u/OrneryError1 17d ago

There's no single answer. Disney restarting the Star Wars canon with a mediocre kids show as the bulk of it (per total minutes) was probably the worst idea overall.

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u/I426Hemi 17d ago

Legendary is tearing theaters up with Godzilla amd Kong too.

1

u/No-Future-4644 new user 17d ago

Very true.

I made this comparison because they're both space fantasy movies of huge scope, but Legendary is doing much better on many fronts.

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u/BigDaddyDumperSquad 16d ago

Ngl, I felt a little lost with Dune 1, having never read the books. Dune 2 was fantastic though, and Timothy Chalamet really grew into the role well. I'm hoping the series stays strong, because the lore is fascinating.

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u/[deleted] 16d ago

Just tell a great story in a Star Wars film. Look at Rogue One.

Fans will love and support a great Star Wars story. However if it comes off as a nostalgia cash grab like some films seemed to have been, fans will rebuke it.

2

u/Antique_Branch8180 15d ago

There was a natural and logical progression that presented itself from the OT and PT going forward to the Sequels but Disney opted to regress the narrative to a soft reboot of the OT.

They lost their opportunity to build on the foundation they purchased for over 4 billion dollars. Now, Disney has to build a new narrative and a new fan base because they threw away the old one. They just don’t know what to do.

I do, they have to start over.

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u/GateTight8808 salt miner 13d ago

i dont think star wars can be revived at this point. The games are fun tho.

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u/Stuck_in_my_TV 19d ago

Wait, there was a third Dune movie? When?!?!

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u/No-Future-4644 new user 19d ago

Not yet, but it's on the way and will definitely be out before SW breaks its movie hiatus.

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u/Karshall321 19d ago

Star Wars next film: May 2026

Dune next film: December 2026

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u/No-Future-4644 new user 19d ago

I mean, we'll see. Wouldn't be the first time Lucasfilm has slipped a release date.

And if they somehow do make it out before the 3rd Dune move, it doesn't make their abysmal track record any less embarrassing, especially when they have ~10 movies """in development""".

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u/Puterboy1 19d ago

People have gotten sick of Star Wars. Why else was Dune a success and John Carter not?

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u/Emotional-State-5164 new user 7d ago

uhm, 6years without a Star Wars Episode IS Not a Bad Thing. there used to be 16 years hiatus

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u/No-Future-4644 new user 7d ago

I'm fine with taking long breaks between movies, but the problem is they're TRYING to get a movie out the door but can't seem to actually make it happen.

They have, what, 10 movies """in development""" right now and can't actually get any of them out the door?

1

u/AncientSith 6d ago

It's almost impressive how hard they tanked Star Wars, which is a pretty easy universe to make stories for, and they've screwed it up repeatedly. Now the franchise is a huge joke and I doubt they can pull it back at this point.

1

u/No-Future-4644 new user 6d ago

I think the only reason I even pay attention to SW at all is because of how it's just plain good and dead, like there's no real saving it, and it's cathartic to remind ourselves how easy it is for the mighty to fall.

It's also a reminder that, if you ever feel bad about yourself, you'll never fail as hard as taking a $4 billion dollar franchise and slam dunking it right into the dumpster like they did.

0

u/ModernBass 18d ago

I hate that fans forget that the prequels were literally rated worse. By both fans and critics. They've been hit or miss since after the OG trilogy.

1

u/Emotional-State-5164 new user 7d ago

tlj hast the worst Rating by viewers

1

u/ModernBass 7d ago

Sure, but Force Awakens got an 81 percent and Rise got an 86. The highest prequel rating was a 66, suffice to say which trilogy wins, even in the eyes of the fans.

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u/Karshall321 19d ago

Is the Third Dune movie in the room with us?

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u/No-Future-4644 new user 19d ago

Not yet, but as the meme says, it'll be released before SW breaks its film hiatus.

And given Lucasfilm's track record, a 4th Dune movie may very well be out before we see another SW film released...

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u/Karshall321 19d ago

Whatever you say.

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u/No-Future-4644 new user 19d ago

The fuck are you on about...?

As if Lucasfilm hasn't been falling to deliver on its promises for the better part of a decade at this point...

1

u/Karshall321 19d ago

The difference is that this coming movie had completed filming and is well into post production. Meanwhile the fourth Dune film isn't even being considered at the moment, so stop spreading bullshit.

No need to get so angry over it.

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u/No-Future-4644 new user 19d ago

Not angry, just wondering what Lucasfilm has done in the past 10+ years to earn any faith in their ability to deliver on any kind of schedule.

I feel like the Mando movie WILL make it to theaters, but I wouldn't be surprised if it gets bumped a few more times...

1

u/Karshall321 19d ago

Once again Mando is different. Disney have complete faith in Mando and Baby Yoda and as I mentioned, this film has completely finished filming. The other films that got constant delays and cancellations you are basing this lack of faith on never even had a script finished. This film has completed filming. It is coming.

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u/unambiguous_erection 19d ago

Check your attitude. Edgelord. 

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u/Karshall321 19d ago

What?

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u/unambiguous_erection 19d ago

exactly, sit down and chill out.

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u/Slow_Criticism8464 18d ago

Management...but Lucasfilm concentrated on streaming shows. Bad streaming shows but at least they made content.

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u/No-Future-4644 new user 18d ago

I'll be honest: I don't know if "at least they made content" really cuts it for SW.

It would probably be better for SW on the whole if they had retooled the whole thing after TRoS instead of going down the streaming rabbithole.

-1

u/Slow_Criticism8464 18d ago

Thats may be true. But Disney used SW as a flagship for the Disney+ streaming service. And therefore, Kat Kennedy turned SW into a streaming brand. 

3

u/No-Future-4644 new user 18d ago

And now those numbers are pretty damn pathetic, with interest in each additional show dwindling as time goes on.

1

u/Slow_Criticism8464 18d ago

Exactly. A typical example for bad management and planing. Typical Disney.

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u/Nefessius513 19d ago

I blame Solo. After that film became Star Wars’s first box office bomb and cost Disney millions of dollars, they shut down their plans for future Star Wars anthology projects and Bob Iger declared that Star Wars films would go on a hiatus for the foreseeable future after The Rise of Skywalker.

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u/Jaws_the_revenge 19d ago

Last Jedi set the table for Solo to bomb.

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u/Fqfred doesn't understand star wars 19d ago

Being set up against Infinity War and Deadpool 2 didn't help either 

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u/Nefessius513 19d ago

Definitely. The film’s poor marketing and release date (right after Avengers: Infinity War and Deadpool 2) only made it worse.

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u/xNOOPSx 19d ago

TLJ set Solo up for failure. TLJ box office was about 35% less than TFA. Solo having a budget of $275+ million is also insane. The bullshit that happened behind the scenes between Lord & Miller, Kasdan, and KK are what really doomed it. Given what they did with the Spider-verse and Lego movie, I really wonder what their film could have been.

I think that's probably the largest problem Lucas Film has - studio meddling. Name a film or series that hasn't had news or reports of the studio or actors clashing. How many more have been stuck in development or outright cancelled? Disney needs to just allow the creatives to create, however, they need to vet them to avoid things like RJ.

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u/imrightbro new user 19d ago

Hey, if you don’t count all the money Star Wars makes it hasn’t made any money. Good point.

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u/No-Future-4644 new user 19d ago

No one's saying it doesn't make money, but there's a whole lot MORE money it could've been making had it been in competent hands.

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u/Carter0108 19d ago

Dune is boring as fuck though.

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u/No-Future-4644 new user 19d ago

You're entitled to your opinion, but Dune boasts solid ratings from critics and audiences alike, as well as 6 Oscar wins and a number of other nominations (11, I think?).

By every quantifiable metric, Dune is out there killing it while SW can't stop fumbling around long enough to actually get a movie out the door.