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Why did Disney stop numbering Star Wars?
- Thread starter Majine
- Start date
- Status
shadyspace
Banned
The prequels emphasized the episode numbers. Disney doesn't want to remind people of the prequels for obvious reasons.
Sectorseven
Member
Probably to distance themselves from the prequel marketing.
IdreamofHIME
Member
So its easier to pretend the prequels don't exist.
bananafactory
Banned
It's still called Episode VII
Aaron Strife
Banned
Didn't movie theaters advertise Empire as "Star Wars 2"?
Numbering them IV/V/VI is a relatively recent convention.
Numbering them IV/V/VI is a relatively recent convention.
Because they don't want to devalue the spinoffs. Look at Marvel films. even a film basically totally disconnected from the Avengers (GOTG) can print money. No need to give the audience a reason to stay away from any of the many spinoffs they'll be making by making them appear less important.
also, once you get past 3 or 4, numbered sequels feel a bit gaudy and cheap.
also, once you get past 3 or 4, numbered sequels feel a bit gaudy and cheap.
Zeyphersan
Banned
Is it so hard to memorize the order without numbers attached? I mean really?
1-3 don't matter anyway, so you only have to memorize A New Hope, Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. There, I just gave you the answer
LyleLanley
Banned
Numbers are for old people.
Aaron Strife
Banned
Zeyphersan
Banned
It WILL still be in the opening crawl. Just not in the title
Talladega Knight
Member
IdreamofHIME
Member
Furious 7 just pulled in half a billion in 1 weekend.
Haven't the scrolling prologues always had the Episode number on them?
darkistheway
Member
It's most likely this. Not everything has to be about how much Internet nerds hate the prequels.
How is it distancing itself from the prequels? 7 is far from 1-3. Now they are all equal. Think about it.
Lynd7
Member
Nope it was added to IV a couple of years later, maybe just before Empire came out?
Aaron Strife
Banned
The first film to be numbered was Empire - iirc they added Episode IV to Star Wars in a rerelease after Empire.
But they didn't start using the episode numbers in marketing until the prequels.
But they didn't start using the episode numbers in marketing until the prequels.
According to Lucasfilm.com, the Episode IV subtitle was added to the OG Star Wars in 1981. A year after the release of Empire.
This is the reason. Numbering some (but not all!) of the movies just makes the un-numbered ones seem somehow lesser. So hack off the numbers. Suddenly all the movies seem equal. Or at least more equal than before.
Ditto. It was a great throwback to the serials that inspired it.
This is the reason. Numbering some (but not all!) of the movies just makes the un-numbered ones seem somehow lesser. So hack off the numbers. Suddenly all the movies seem equal. Or at least more equal than before.
Ditto. It was a great throwback to the serials that inspired it.
Rhomega Beta
Member
Just from the digital title, or was they removed from the actual movies?
BertramCooper
Banned
Assuming the main film series continues in perpetuity, using roman numerals in the titles could eventually get pretty clunky.
Jack Scofield
Member
This makes me wonder if the opening titles will still say Episode VII, even though this hasn't been present in the marketing so far.
Growing up, I don't remember the marketing ever using the episode numbers. When discussing them, everyone I knew always referred to them by their movie titles, and the episode numbers were only ever brought up as a "huh isn't that weird? wonder if Lucas will make those prequels someday." Even the mid-90s THX Remasters and Special Edition releases didn't reference episode numbers (hell, they didn't even use "A New Hope").
It wasn't until the prequels that the episode numbers played a major role outside of the opening crawl, to clarify for audiences that they were indeed prequels. As far as I know, episode numbers were never applied to any of the OT movies until at least 2004, and in subsequent releases.
This is just a return to the norm.
It wasn't until the prequels that the episode numbers played a major role outside of the opening crawl, to clarify for audiences that they were indeed prequels. As far as I know, episode numbers were never applied to any of the OT movies until at least 2004, and in subsequent releases.
This is just a return to the norm.
This arguement doesn't do much, since the Fast franchise dropped numbers on the 3rd movie and just picked them back like in movie 6, not to mention they have been using a super weird convention to name them, like movie one was "The fast and the furious" but movie 4 was "Fast and Furious".
TwoDurans
"Never said I wasn't a hypocrite."
People don't refer to the movies by their number. It's always their subtitle, with the exception of A New Hope, which is always referred to as "Star Wars."
It's still Episode 7, but it'll be known as The Force Awakens, or simply "the new star wars film."
It's still Episode 7, but it'll be known as The Force Awakens, or simply "the new star wars film."
Calamari41
41 > 38
The numbers are only important to the prequels. A random person out there knows them not by "Attack of the Clones" or "Revenge of the Sith," but by Episode 2 and Episode 3. Go ask that ransom person which movie "Episode 5" was, and they'll have to think for a second.
APZonerunner
Member
I can think of a few reasons:
1) Distance themselves from the widely-understood concept that Lucas plotted out 9 movies to begin with. Now each chapter is just a new chapter in that saga, which could go on indefinitely.
2) Avoid damaging the spin-off titles by association. If The Force Awakens is Episode 7 in all the marketing, it diminishes Rogue One because that's immediately from the lack of an 'episode' prefix not part of the main story.
1) Distance themselves from the widely-understood concept that Lucas plotted out 9 movies to begin with. Now each chapter is just a new chapter in that saga, which could go on indefinitely.
2) Avoid damaging the spin-off titles by association. If The Force Awakens is Episode 7 in all the marketing, it diminishes Rogue One because that's immediately from the lack of an 'episode' prefix not part of the main story.
Not right away. A year or so after the first film, they rereleased it with the Episode number. I don't think it even had the subtitle.
Dark Ninja
Member
They probably want to maximize the potential of people that would go see the movie. Companies believe high numbers scare people away, this happens with games too we should be at Super Mario 12 by now.
That has absolutely nothing to do with it. Despite what is discussed on internet forums, the majority of people enjoyed the prequels and they made a metric ton of cash. What is more likely is they just want a separate trilogy of movies so new generations wont get confused.
ZeroGravity
Member
This
It's not about the prequels at all guys. They clearly want this series to go on beyond Episode 9.
VistraNorrez
Member
It depends on when you grew up. As someone born in 1985, I mostly remember the OT being referred to as by their subtitles, including A New Hope. I never knew anyone to just refer to that as Star Wars, but the VHS tapes did emphasize Star Wars over A New Hope. As the Prequels came closer to reality they had no subtitles so people called them by the episode number. So that stuck until the episode subtitle was announced then it mostly switched over to the subtitle. I mean people were still calling TFA, Episode 7 until the title was announced. And the sequels are of course referred to as Episodes 8 & 9.
But yes the they want to focus on the subtitles so not to make the spinoffs look like lesser films.
DiipuSurotu
Banned
They should have grew balls even further and remove "Star Wars" from the film title. ESB and ROFJ also didn't that in their titles.
Charles Foster Kane
Rosebud
To probably make it more marketable to new people.
I like it.
I like it.
ROTJ did
ESB also did, just not as obvious as, it's in the logo as a whole and since it blends in with the white background a bit harder to see.
Gambit 1138
Banned
The numbering only started when George Lucas started doing the prequels and that was a dark time for Star Wars. People want to go back to the way things were pre 1999
What dark times was that, making over 30 billion dollars?
DiipuSurotu
Banned
ROTJ did
I think ESB and ROTJ both did, but only on the posters. The official film titles didn't have "Star Wars" in them, i.e. it was "The Empire Strikes Back", not "Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back".
EDIT: just saw your edit
Gambit 1138
Banned
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