‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ First TV Channel Purchase, Hasbro Decides On Rey Monopoly Controversy, And ‘Rogue One’
Star Wars: The Force Awakens is smashing records and prepping for a whole new direction for the Star Wars saga, so to say it is a hot commodity at the moment is clearly an understatement. As all the new and old Star Wars fans finish their fourth or fifth viewings, many are naturally waiting for the DVD, or some who decided to avoid the theater rush are waiting for it to drop on TV or a streaming service like Netflix. According to the New York Post, Starz was the first TV channel to bid for the highest-grossing film of all time.
Surprisingly, what Starz paid would be considered a bargain basement price for the rights to run Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The minuscule monetary sum for the newest Star Wars entry was $17.5 million.
To put it in perspective, Starz pays $4 million for just one hour of one of its original TV shows. Starz, however, is a little under the weather as far as its profits are concerned at the moment. Though, Albert Fried & Co entertainment analyst Rich Tullo believes that the $17.5 million Star Wars: The Force Awakens price tag is not the final sum that Starz will pay, but sees the highest grossing film as their version of adding the Super Bowl to their network.
“The benefit to Starz is it’s a sleepy brand and it will stir some excitement. It’s like having Super Bowl to launch other programming.”
Starz was mum on any other information regarding their Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Netflix was not so lucky. According to the report, they will be on the hook for double the amount for their Star Wars deal. Even worse, it only has the rights to stream the new Star Wars film in Canada.
Considering Star Wars: The Force Awakens is still in theaters, it almost seems premature to discuss its presentation on the small screen. The bigger discussion has been the alleged sexism against The Force Awakens “new hope,” Rey, according to Entertainment Weekly.
Hasbro stated that it had not included her in their initial release of the new Star Wars Monopoly based solely on the premise that they did not want to include any kind of spoilers, but a Rey fan-led Twitter revolt that read #WheresRey finally reached the board game company’s higher-ups. They release the following statement Tuesday.
“We love the passion fans have for Rey, and are happy to announce that we will be making a running change to include her in the Monopoly: Star Wars game available later this year.”
So, if you were holding for Daisy Ridley (Rey) to join the Star Wars: The Force Awakens version of Monopoly, you might not have to wait much longer. There is also something else Star Wars related that fans won’t have too much longer for either.
Star Wars: Rogue One will becoming out in December, and anticipation for the Star Wars spin-off is at surprisingly high volume. Entertainment Weekly reports that Fandango took a survey of the upcoming 2016 movie roster, and Star Wars: Rogue One topped the list, beating out Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice and Captain America: Civil War. Fandango chief correspondent Dave Karger explains that the fans just know what they want.
“Film fans already know what they want for their 2016 holiday present, as they count down the days till Dec. 16 when the next Star Wars story opens in theaters. The new year promises plenty of action, star turns and first-time comic book adaptations to satisfy a wide range of consumers and to continue the momentum of 2015’s banner year for moviegoing.”
With Star Wars: Rogue One currently riding on its successful cousin’s coattails, it doesn’t seem all too surprising at this point.
[Image Via Star Wars The Force Awakens| Courtesy Of Lucasfilm/Disney|Cropped and Resized]
