Star Wars may be a trailblazing transmedia franchise, but Maureen Ryan's new book Burn It Down shines a light on major problems at Lucasfilm that certainly need to change. Lucasfilm and Marvel are two of the most important studios in the world, trailblazers who set the pattern for all their would-be rivals. They've flourished, in part, because of a significant change in Hollywood since the MCU was launched in 2008. Intellectual Property – IP – now dominates. Movies and TV shows are greenlit because they are part of existing franchises, or because they involve characters with strong brand recognition, not necessarily because of a compelling vision.
The launch of Disney+ meant Disney needed a constant stream of original content to draw in viewers, and Lucasfilm and Disney are at the heart of that corporate strategy. The Mandalorian premiered alongside the release of Disney+ in 2019, and since then Star Wars has become a massive transmedia franchise, with stories leaping from one medium to another. Lucasfilm's Dave Filoni has benefited the most; the upcoming Ahsoka Disney+ TV show will see the character he co-created with George Lucas himself star in her own series, and he's now confirmed to be working on a movie trying all the threads from The Mandalorian era together. On the surface, it all looks like a great success story; but Maureen Ryan's Burn It Down points to many significant problems hidden behind the PR machine of a major studio.
