The total revenue generated by the Star Wars film saga would be enough to propel Skywalker Ranch, its nerve centre in California, into the top half of the international wealth league, ahead of Bulgaria, Cyprus and Iceland.
Since the release of Star Wars: Episode IV in 1977, a combination of box office, VHS and DVDs, video games, toys and other merchandise spin-offs have added up to nearly $20-billion in estimated revenue. And the final instalment, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, is set to push the total even higher.
If Star Wars was a country, its $20-billion would place it 70th in the World Bank’s rankings of countries according to gross domestic product (GDP), narrowly behind Syria, Serbia and Oman, but ahead of Bulgaria, Libya and Lebanon. George Lucas’s brainchild has made twice as much money as each of Uzbekistan, Jordan and Estonia, and four times as much as Malta, Afghanistan and Macedonia.
Star Wars is richer than the large majority of African countries. It dwarfs the economies of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Niger, Chad, Swaziland, Malawi, Rwanda, the Central African Republic, Lesotho, Sierra Leone, Eritrea and Liberia put together.
The first five Star Wars films grossed nearly $5,7-billion in worldwide box office profits, with toy and merchandise sales yielding $9bn more. According to Forbes magazine, VHS, DVD and video game sales have added an extra $4,3-billion. Lucasfilm, the film company run by Lucas, estimated that a Star Wars video game released last year pulled in $115-million on its first day.
Star Wars outgrosses all other film franchises, including The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and the 21-film James Bond series.
Revenge of the Sith has more promotional partners than any of the previous five films, and for the first time characters have been licenced to appear in television adverts, promoting products including mobile phones and soft drinks. Action figures, light sabers and a Darth Vader ”voice converter” are among the most popular toys.
But the ability of Revenge of the Sith to generate sales could be struck down by an irony. Unlike its predecessors, the film has a 12A rating, which means that under-12s can only see it accompanied by an adult.
Lucas has already advised against young children watching the film, warning that the plot is ”way too dark” for a five or six-year-old. Yet some of the toys are marketed for children as young as four. – Guardian Unlimited