15 Things That Were Meant To Be The Next Star Wars… But Weren’t

Who doesn’t remember the cultural impact of *checks notes* …Space Raiders?
15 Things That Were Meant To Be The Next Star Wars… But Weren’t

When something comes along and changes the world, it’s inevitable that it’ll spawn imitators. Star Wars is obviously no exception — shitloads of projects have been pitched, made and sold on the idea that they might be “the next Star Wars.” Not necessarily in terms of content, but in terms of impact, scale and indelibly making a mark on the world. Who wouldn’t want the thing they’re working on to have that kind of planet-altering impact? Millions upon millions of lives changed the moment they saw a light saber rev up or heard James Earl Jones’ voice boom out of that fucking cool helmet.

It pretty much comes down to (a) fun weapons; (b) goofy hats; (c) fairytale-esque good-versus-evil at a galactic scale; and (d) a cute love story. That combination has made billions, but as some people have found, there’s slightly more to it than that. And so, nothing has yet managed to match that one story from a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…

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John Carter Came and Went

CRACKED Based on a series of books by Edgar Rice Burroughs which had enormously influenced George Lucas, John Carter - despite being really fun - ended up failing to make back its hefty budget or make Taylor Kitsch into a household name.

Source 

The Black Hole Sucked

CRACKED PALOMINO Changes were made to The Black Hole (Disney's most expensive film ever at the time) after the success of Star Wars, including two robot sidekicks and a big bombastic score. It didn't stop it from being, well, kinda shit.

Source 

Battle Beyond the Stars Was a Two-Star Movie

CRACKED Produced by B-movie king Roger Corman, inspired equally by Star Wars and The Seven Samurai with a young James Cameron on special effects, BBTS is a good-ass time, but was never going to be seen as more than a cash-in.

Source / IMDB 

Space Raiders Relied on Ticketing Errors

CRACKED Corman re-used a bunch of footage from Battle Beyond the Stars for 1983's Space Raiders, a cheap-ass knockoff mainly seen by people who wanted to see Return of the Jedi but got confused.

Source / IMDB 

Avatar: What in Avatarnation Even Happened in That Movie?

CRACKED There are endless debates about the cultural impact, or lack thereof, of Avatar, but the ambition is definitely there - James Cameron wants to make the biggest series ever. They're beautiful, impressive movies that could benefit from sillier hats.

Source / Toynk 

Battlefield Earth: John Travolta Is Wrong, Revolting

CRACKED John Travolta, star and producer of the movie adaptation of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard's sci-fi epic, used every promotional opportunity available to describe it as like Star Wars but better. It wasn't.

Source 

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