| Star Wars (1977) | Wish (2023) | |
|---|---|---|
| Budget | $11M | $200M |
| Gross | $775M ($3.3B adjusted) | $256M |
| Rotten Tomatoes | 93% | 48% |
| Cultural Impact | Created modern blockbuster cinema | Disney's 100th anniversary... that nobody celebrated |
| Legacy | The most influential film franchise in history | Forgotten before the year ended |
In 1977, George Lucas — a young filmmaker that no studio had confidence in — scraped together $11 million to make a space opera that every executive thought would bomb. Fox gave him the budget reluctantly. His own crew called it "that space thing." Actors struggled with the dialogue. The production was chaotic.
It made $775 million (over $3 billion adjusted for inflation). It invented the modern blockbuster. It created the merchandise-driven entertainment model. It spawned the most valuable franchise in entertainment history. It changed cinema forever.
$11 million.
In 2023, Disney — the largest entertainment company on Earth — spent $200 million on Wish, their 100th anniversary celebration film. It was supposed to be a love letter to Disney's legacy. It was supposed to honor 100 years of magic.
It made $256 million on a $200M+ budget. It was a financial disappointment. It was a creative disappointment. It was a $200M shrug. Nobody celebrated Disney's 100th anniversary because Disney couldn't even make a movie worth celebrating.
The Gap Between Them
Star Wars was made by someone who had a story burning inside him and couldn't NOT tell it. Lucas risked everything — his career, his finances, his health — because he believed in this weird space fairy tale about a farm boy and a princess and a guy in a black mask.
Wish was made by a committee who decided that Disney's 100th anniversary needed a movie, so they assembled one from spare parts. A bit of this classic, a reference to that one, a wish upon a star because that's the Disney brand, and... there's your movie. Ship it.
One was made with desperation and passion. The other was made with $200M and a release date. The desperation and passion won. They always do.
The $189M Question
Wish cost $189M more than Star Wars. What did that extra money buy?
Not a better story. Not more memorable characters. Not songs that anyone remembers. Not a single scene that will be quoted or referenced or studied.
It bought CGI animation that's technically proficient but artistically bland. It bought marketing. It bought a spot on the content calendar. It bought the ability to say "we made a 100th anniversary movie" without having to answer "was it any good?"
$189M extra, and the result is a movie that's worse by every conceivable metric than something made for $11M in 1977. If that doesn't tell you everything wrong with modern Hollywood, nothing will.