[cincinnati65]

Do you remember the moment when you first watched one of the George Lucas movies from the original trilogy and said, “Yeah, you just put that in there so you could sell a toy.” I don’t remember the specific scene, but I know it was in ROTJ.

[HamiltonJay]

Yes, ROTJ definitely clearly had, what’s the tie in, all over it... toy or otherwise.. but give Lucas credit that’s what made him his Billions... Sony though the original film was going to be such a complete flop they gave him all rights to licensing...

The first 2 films were groundbreaking... and to this day Empire is still the greatest Star Wars film made... and I don’t think that is likely to change, even with Disney making new ones... today’s filmmaking is all action, little plot.. michael bay pointlessness... I doubt you will ever see a great film made in this universe again... They will keep the fans coming, but none will live up to what was put on film in those first 2 films.

[fwdude]

Yes, marketing BECAME an issue after the original movie's initial success, but I don't think that was the driving force originally. What you have to remember about ANY movie franchise like this is that most likely the first release is a huge unknown, and Star Wars was no exception. I've read that the makers really were doubtful that it would take off like it did, and certainly didn't think about a line of toys based on an expected flop.

The dynamics change drastically after the first signs of success, which greatly affects the direction of the franchise moving forward.