The "Legends" scarlet letter was always bullshit to me, especially considering how shitty the Disney trilogy is.
Abrams likes to bash other people's toys together until they break while giggling and making explosion sounds, and Rian Johnson just showed up to photobomb with his middle fingers up.
I've sometimes wondered why Disney simply didn't film the Heir to the Empire trilogy. So what if fans already know the story? It's not like Lord of the Rings bombed in the box office because fans already knew that story. The only answer I can think of is that they didn't want to pay royalties to Timothy Zahn.
Fans knew the damn story...and they were salivating to see how it was going to portrayed on the big screen!
I remember at the end of one movie, we get to see a single oliphaunt. One of my friends remarked that it was cool, and I was like, ooooooh nelly. You are going to like the next film. I ain't gonna say anything, I ain't gonna spoil it, but I will promise that you're going to like it a lot.
also LOL @ the idea that Zahn didn't sign all rights away as part of his initial contract
As odd as it sounds nowadays, the whole Star Wars media empire (no pun intended) wasn't really a thing back in the early 1990s. Between Return of the Jedi and Heir to the Empire's release dates, there were a handful of books, some niche comics, some bad videogames, some kids' cartoons and toys. Lucasfilm didn't have nearly the kind of leverage that they later had, and Disney now has, over authors.
The only answer I can think of is that they didn't want to pay royalties to Timothy Zahn.
That is the most likely answer.
That, and to a smaller extent, I think it is also that Abrams refused to play nice with other people's toys; he's that brat in the neighborhood that mangles neighboring kids' stuff up to and including scribbling his name on stuff he steals to claim it was always his.
The "Legends" scarlet letter was always bullshit to me, especially considering how shitty the Disney trilogy is.
Abrams likes to bash other people's toys together until they break while giggling and making explosion sounds, and Rian Johnson just showed up to photobomb with his middle fingers up.
I've sometimes wondered why Disney simply didn't film the Heir to the Empire trilogy. So what if fans already know the story? It's not like Lord of the Rings bombed in the box office because fans already knew that story. The only answer I can think of is that they didn't want to pay royalties to Timothy Zahn.
Fans knew the damn story...and they were salivating to see how it was going to portrayed on the big screen!
I remember at the end of one movie, we get to see a single oliphaunt. One of my friends remarked that it was cool, and I was like, ooooooh nelly. You are going to like the next film. I ain't gonna say anything, I ain't gonna spoil it, but I will promise that you're going to like it a lot.
supposed filoni will be directing a live action film called Heir to the Empire
also LOL @ the idea that Zahn didn't sign all rights away as part of his initial contract
As odd as it sounds nowadays, the whole Star Wars media empire (no pun intended) wasn't really a thing back in the early 1990s. Between Return of the Jedi and Heir to the Empire's release dates, there were a handful of books, some niche comics, some bad videogames, some kids' cartoons and toys. Lucasfilm didn't have nearly the kind of leverage that they later had, and Disney now has, over authors.
while its true the media empire was dormant when Zahn wrote the original Zahn trilogy, Lucas has always been a canny businessman above all else.
(also, you forgot the RPG, which created much of the stuff that later ended up being canon)
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That is the most likely answer.
That, and to a smaller extent, I think it is also that Abrams refused to play nice with other people's toys; he's that brat in the neighborhood that mangles neighboring kids' stuff up to and including scribbling his name on stuff he steals to claim it was always his.
I think it's mostly just that they wanted to capture the "magic" of the OT by just doing a sleek remake of ANH.