A recent article in the Wall Street Journal laid out the Lucasfilm strategy to keep the Star Wars licensing money train on the tracks in the absence of any new cinematic engines to drive sales. With over $12 billion in sales of licensed merchandise so far, Star Wars is the undisputed champion of ancillary revenues (Batman, with an estimated $6 billion in merchandising sales, is a surprise second, and Spider-Man with $2.7 billion a distant third).
Lucasfilm's new strategy is basically a variation on the methods it used to keep product lines fresh between the various Star Wars movie releases by examining periods not covered in the actual films themselves. From Knights of the Old Republic, which takes place 4,000 years before the events of the first Star Wars film, to the Clone Wars animated series (and graphic novels) that takes place between Episode II (Attack of the Clones) and Episode III (Revenge of the Sith), to a new nine-novel series that takes place 25 years after the end of Episode VI, Lucasfilm has not been shy about allowing its licensees to fill in the gaps in the Star Wars timeline.
In December Ubisoft will release Star Wars: Lethal Alliance a dazzling game for the handheld PSP and Nintendo DS that is set during the period between the end of the first Star Wars trilogy and the beginning of the second.
Hasbro will produce a new line of action figures and vehicles based on the game, while a print and TV advertising blitz will precede the launch of the game tying it in with the 30th anniversary of the property. Don't be surprised if Dark Horse Comics, Del Rey and other Lucasfilm licensees produce new Star Wars products tied to the same spot in the saga's timeline during 2007.
Will the videogame-based strategy be enough to keep the 'force' viable in toy stores and comic shops? The lack of an impending Star Wars film did have a major effect on toy sales this year as Hasbro reported a drop in sales of Star Wars item of $84.8 million for the second quarter of 2006, but the franchise is far from dead.
Even in its weakened, movie-less state the property remains potent. Star Wars action figures are still the best-selling figure line of 2006 so far, according to the NPD Group's market research, and the latest ICv2 Retailers Guide to Games (#12) places the Star Wars Collectible Miniatures Game at the top of the CMG category.