One thing I see over and over again is how the business view differs from the consumer view or experience. You assume things work one way when in reality they dont. Case in point: movie revenue.

Check out this graph. Do movies make money from actually showing the movie in theaters or do they make money from non-movie stuff like toys? Who'd of thunk that the movie biz is really the toy biz.

A New Way to Use the Force

Even Without More Movies, 'Star Wars' Has Plans to Keep Licensing Dollars Rolling In

By STEPHANIE KANG

August 22, 2006

Wall Street Journal

It took "Star Wars" creator George Lucas six feature films to tell the big-screen story of Darth Vader and his kin. But since the franchise began in 1977, Mr. Lucas has never told moviegoers what happened in the period between the films' trilogies.

Fans will get answers next year when Lucasfilm Ltd. releases a videogame based on that unexploited time in the "Star Wars" continuum. With razzle-dazzle effects, the game will be the main platform for an accompanying line of action figures and vehicles from longtime "Star Wars" partner Hasbro Inc. to be released next year. A print and television advertising campaign will precede the game launch, piggybacking on the 30th anniversary of the franchise.

It's the kind of push usually reserved for a new "Star Wars" film. Mr. Lucas, of course, has said he won't make any more of those. He does, however, plan to keep the movie's merchandising empire rolling -- a strategy that is dependent on generating new stories and fresh approaches to the iconic characters and their world.

Of course, the "Star Wars" universe has long been peppered with comics, novels and other ancillary products that riffed off Mr. Lucas's films. The stable of nonmovie storylines became so big that it spawned its own moniker: "expanded Star Wars universe," encompassing everything not directly mentioned in the movies. Lucasfilm says sales of "Star Wars" merchandise topped $12 billion since its inception in 1977, about three times the world-wide box office for all six movies combined.