That quote sounds like a bunch of hogwash to me . ' Star Wars ' is an absolute phenomenon . It ' s absolutely massive and pretty much universally loved . They absolutely didn ' t need to reestablish Star Wars with episode VII by essentially remaking episode IV like so many apologists seem to insist . Equally , the spinoff movies didn ' t need to be based around familiar elements and characters from the original trilogy . People would have gone to see the movies regardless because it ' s ' Star Wars '. The real reason that the powers that be are sticking so closely to what worked before is because like all of Hollywood in general , they lack balls . Now , here comes Kathleen Kennedy , saying that they ' re going to branch out from familiar territory after these spineless spinoffs are done . Colour me skeptical . These initial spinoffs will make a ton of money again because it ' s ' Star Wars ' and the powers that be will say behind closed doors why change what isn ' t broke and simply make a bunch more stories which trade on the same , well trodden ground . I ' d like to be proven wrong but I ' m cynical for a reason because that ' s what Hollywood has taught me to be , based upon previous behavioral patterns . Fool me once , shame on . you . fool me I can ' t get fooled again . something like that anyway .