Star Wars: A Franchise Story

This master's thesis focuses on the phenomenon of Star Wars and analyses what makes it such a popular and long-standing popcultural hegemon. The thesis explores the inception of the franchise's first film in detail; it describes the state of the Hollywood film industry in that era and how the film was introduced and sold to the public; the technical innovations of the films' creative teams are brought under spotlight. The films are here understood as pioneers of the blockbuster, a specific kind of box office hit whose key features are its entertainment value, its spectacular sensory nature and close cooperation with businesses that are given licenses to manufacture merchandise, which not only helps market the film, but garners financial gain as well. The paratexts that come into existence this way are also viewed as meaningful objects for their consumers; together with the new VCR and DVD technology, the paratexts help not only to keep the franchise alive in the minds of older fans, but also to create new fans during the long interims between the separate film trilogies. The franchise's transition into a Disney asset is analysed next, including the new films produced under its supervision, as well as the franchise's shift into the new world of streamed content