Disney's $6.7Bn Space Opera Franchise Is The Best Replacement For George Lucas' Star Wars

Published Sep 22, 2026, 10:45 PM EDT Since 2019, Kevin Erdmann has been one of Screen Rant's Senior Staff Writers, covering all kinds of Superhero and Star Wars media with Easter egg breakdowns, theory pieces, breaking news, and more. A huge Star Wars & MCU fan, Kevin also loves Batman (because he's Batman), but could talk for hours about why Nightwing is DC's greatest hero. With 8 years of total experience covering entertainment and pop culture, Kevin has gotten the chance to interview top creatives and talent, and has also attended major media events like Disney's D23 convention. Majoring in Cinema Studies with a minor in Comics and Cartoon Studies from the UofO, Kevin lives in Oregon with his wonderful wife, adorable dog, and sinister cat who is no doubt currently plotting his demise. Sign in to your ScreenRant account As big as the Star Wars franchise still is nearly 50 years later, the galaxy far, far away isn't Disney's only big-money space opera epic. For decades, the galaxy far, far away envisioned by George Lucas has served as one of the most definitive sci-fi epics for multiple generations. That being said, there is another major sci-fi franchise at Disney's disposal, one that has become more prevalent in the face of Star Wars' own unpredictability in recent years. On the whole, it's quite impressive that James Cameron's Avatar franchise has now produced three movies that have each crossed $1 billion worldwide. Likewise, 2025's Avatar: Fire and Ash pushed the franchise's combined global box office to $6.7 billion. That's a major testament to the popularity and success of the franchise, one that has quite a lot in common with Star Wars (in ways both good and bad). While Avatar isn't replacing Star Wars in the literal sense, it's worth noting just how successful Jame Cameron's sci-fi franchise has become for Disney in the face of Star Wars not being nearly as strong as it once was, especially in recent years following Disney's own shifting priorities with streaming that have only just recently shifted back to theatrical releases from Lucasfilm. That said, with two more sequels in the works, the Avatar franchise is worth examining to see if it's truly become a similar yet more dependable space opera capable of driving more audiences into theaters for major box-office returns. Avatar Repeats The Best (& Worst) Of George Lucas' Star Wars Prequels Across the board, James Cameron's Avatar franchise bears more than a few resemblances to George Lucas' Star Wars movies, particularly when it comes to the prequel trilogy of films. Firstly, both Cameron and Lucas have used their respective blockbuster sci-fi movies as major technological showcases, pushing the limits of visual effects and filmmaking to new heights. Additionally, both franchises greatly expand the mythology of their universes, offering new pieces of lore, characters, locations, and threats with each new chapter. There's even shared DNA in the stories themselves. While Cameron's movies may take place on the singular world that is Pandora, the movies constantly delve deeper into its ecosystem, introducing new characters, creatures, and connections to the world's spiritual power and living network. That's a lot like Star Wars with its numerous alien species and the energy field living in all things known as the Force. The parallels between the RDA and the Empire are obvious, featuring much of the same tensions between freedom and oppression, technology vs. the spiritual, and more. Likewise, both franchises have "Chosen One" figures with uniquely powerful spiritual connections/destinies (Kiri and Anakin Skywalker). Interestingly, Cameron's movies have also faced very similar criticisms to those that were directed at Lucas' prequels when they first came out, having been criticized for simpler storytelling, weaker dialogue, and underdeveloped characters despite the truly impressive visual effects on display. None of these general similarities make Avatar an outright copy of Star Wars, and it's actually because of those resemblances that make the Avatar franchise feel like such an interesting successor as another major space opera epic in the pop culture zeitgeist. Just like Star Wars, James Cameron's Avatar movies have introduced a universe and fictional world brought to life unlike anything audiences had seen before. Is Avatar Now Bigger For Disney Than Star Wars? © 2025 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved Considering recent theatrical momentum, Avatar definitely has the stronger case, especially with Star Wars not having a theatrical release since 2019 until this year's The Mandalorian & Grogu, which underperformed at the box office ($345.5 million worldwide). Conversely, 2022's Avatar: The Way of Water became a massive global phenomenon ($2.32 billion worldwide), and 2025's Avatar: Fire and Ash continued that pattern despite opening to less than its predecessor, still crossing the billion-dollar threshold ($1.49 billion worldwide). Combined with the first movie's whopping global $2.92 billion haul, a collective $6.7 billion from only three released movies is all kinds of impressive compared to Star Wars' $10.4 billion across its 12 major theatrical releases since 1977 ($15-20 billion adjusted) Two more Avatar movies are on the way as well. Avatar 4 and Avatar 5 are currently listed for December 2029 and December 2031 releases, respectively. If those movies remain on schedule and continue the franchise's enormous theatrical performance, Avatar will be further cemented as a critical piece of Disney's movie strategy...perhaps more so than Star Wars. Of course, Star Wars still has some enormous advantages the Avatar franchise doesn't even come close to. For one thing, the merchandise ecosystem of Star Wars is way more established and will likely never be topped, particularly when it comes to toys and collectibles. While the Avatar franchise has some canonical comics and video game releases, Star Wars still has decades of animated series, books, games, and more media extensions beyond its movies, not to mention its live-action shows (though some have been better than others). Disney also has Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge in two parks, the immersive land/experience where guests can build lightsabers and droids while exploring the in-universe world of Batuu (though Disney has plans to expand its Pandora offerings in the next few years as well). Even so, theatrical dominance is where Avatar has very much pulled ahead at present. Hopefully, Star Wars will be able to regain its position as a major theatrical draw and box-office giant when Star Wars: Starfighter releases next year, 50 years after the release of George Lucas' first Star Wars film. Culturally, Avatar hasn't yet replaced Star Wars. The galaxy far, far away remains one of the most recognizable entertainment brands ever created, with an enormous legacy Avatar will never be able to fill. That said, Disney likely doesn't need Avatar to literally become the next Star Wars. Assuming Cameron completes his planned saga and the upcoming sequels continue to draw huge worldwide audiences and major box-office returns, Disney will have something arguably just as valuable: a separate original science-fiction franchise capable of giving theatrical audiences the kind of massive cinematic event Star Wars did, even if Star Wars (hopefully) becomes that again. A Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far, Far Away · Eight Questions How Well Do You Know Star Wars? “The Force will be with you. Always.” 🗡️Jedi OrderLight-side guardians ⚡The SithRule of two ⚙️The RebellionA new hope 🪓Bounty HuntersThis is the way 👑The EmpireOrder 66 PUNCH IT! → 01 The original Star Wars film — later retitled Episode IV: A New Hope — opened in just 32 American theatres and proceeded to become the highest-grossing film of its era, redefining what summer blockbusters could be. In which year did it premiere? A1975 B1977 C1979 D1980 ✓ Correct! 1977 — specifically May 25. 20th Century Fox had so little faith in the project they only opened it in 32 theatres at first; queues quickly stretched around the block, and the film expanded to over 1,000 screens within months. It earned $307 million in its initial domestic run, won six Academy Awards (with another four nominations) and inverted Hollywood’s economics for the next 50 years. ✗ Wrong. The answer is 1977. 1975 is when the script was being shopped around. 1979 is when Star Trek: The Motion Picture released as a Star Wars-shaped countermove. 1980 is The Empire Strikes Back. The original Star Wars is May 25, 1977. NEXT → 02 A New Hope’s writer-director was a then-32-year-old American Graffiti veteran who’d struggled to get the project greenlit and famously took back-end profit and merchandising rights in lieu of a higher salary — the deal that would build a billion-dollar company. He returned to direct the prequels but stepped away from the original-trilogy sequels. Name him. ASteven Spielberg BGeorge Lucas CFrancis Ford Coppola DIrvin Kershner ✓ Correct! George Lucas. The merchandising rights he kept (because Fox didn’t value them) became the financial bedrock of Lucasfilm and the basis of the modern toys-and-licensing megabusiness. After A New Hope, Lucas produced but didn’t direct Empire Strikes Back (Irvin Kershner) or Return of the Jedi (Richard Marquand), then directed all three prequels (1999–2005). He sold Lucasfilm to Disney in 2012 and stepped away from creative control of the sequels. ✗ Wrong. The answer is George Lucas. Steven Spielberg was Lucas’s close friend (and the godfather of his post-A-New-Hope career) but never directed a Star Wars film. Coppola was Lucas’s mentor at USC and at American Zoetrope. Irvin Kershner directed Empire Strikes Back. The original is Lucas’s. NEXT → 03 In 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back, Darth Vader delivers cinema’s most-misquoted line at the climax of his Cloud City duel with Luke Skywalker. Vader severs Luke’s hand and reveals their relationship. The exact line is — for the record — “No, I am your father.” What relationship does it confirm? AVader is Luke’s uncle BVader is Luke’s father (Anakin Skywalker) CVader is Obi-Wan’s brother DVader is Han’s father ✓ Correct! Vader is Anakin Skywalker, Luke’s father. The reveal was so jealously guarded that Mark Hamill was only told the real line on set the day they shot it (the script said “Obi-Wan killed your father”), and even James Earl Jones recorded the dub without knowing the full plot context. The line — commonly misquoted as “Luke, I am your father” — rewrote what trilogies could pull off and is broadly considered cinema’s most famous twist. ✗ Wrong. The answer is that Vader is Luke’s father, Anakin Skywalker. The whole foundation of the Skywalker saga collapses to this single twist: Anakin (the Jedi prodigy of the prequels) becomes Vader after his fall. Luke and Leia are revealed in Return of the Jedi to be his twin children, separated at birth. NEXT → 04 Yoda — the green, ear-twitching Jedi Master — was puppeted and voiced from his Empire Strikes Back debut through the prequels and the sequels by a single Muppet-show-veteran performer who also voices Miss Piggy and Fozzie Bear. Name him. AJim Henson BFrank Oz CSteve Whitmire DBrian Henson ✓ Correct! Frank Oz — longtime Jim Henson collaborator and voice/puppet work on Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, Sam Eagle and Grover. Oz puppeted Yoda directly through The Phantom Menace before CGI took over for Attack of the Clones onward, but he’s continued to voice the character through the sequels and animated series. Yoda’s syntax was developed jointly by Lucas and Oz to feel old, foreign and hard-won. ✗ Wrong. The answer is Frank Oz. Jim Henson was Oz’s mentor and collaborator (he created the Muppets) but didn’t voice Yoda. Steve Whitmire took over Kermit after Henson’s 1990 death. Brian Henson is Jim’s son and runs the Henson company today. Yoda is Frank Oz’s. NEXT → 05 In a deal that reshaped Hollywood, Disney acquired Lucasfilm Ltd. for $4.05 billion in cash and stock — bringing Star Wars, Indiana Jones, ILM and Skywalker Sound under the Disney umbrella. The deal also kicked off the sequel trilogy production. In what year did Disney close the acquisition? A2009 B2010 C2012 D2014 ✓ Correct! 2012 — specifically October 30. The deal was announced with simultaneous reveal that a Star Wars Episode VII was being developed for a 2015 release. Lucas had been quietly preparing his exit from Lucasfilm for years; Kathleen Kennedy had been brought in as co-chair months earlier specifically to take over. The Force Awakens came out three years later, in December 2015, kicking off the modern era. ✗ Wrong. The answer is 2012. 2009 is when Disney acquired Marvel ($4 billion). 2010 is the year before Lucas began signalling exit plans. 2014 is when production proper began on The Force Awakens. Lucasfilm joined Disney on October 30, 2012. NEXT → 06 The Mandalorian launched as Disney+’s flagship original on November 12, 2019 — the day the streaming service itself launched. Created by Jon Favreau and run by Dave Filoni, the show centres on a helmeted bounty hunter who reluctantly becomes a foster father to “The Child” (Grogu). What is the Mandalorian’s real name? ABoba Fett BCobb Vanth CDin Djarin DBo-Katan Kryze ✓ Correct! Din Djarin — played by Pedro Pascal under the helmet (with body double Brendan Wayne handling much of the physical work). The Mandalorian is widely credited with reviving Star Wars on TV, popularising the StageCraft LED-volume virtual production technology now used across Hollywood, and turning baby Yoda — Grogu — into the meme-economy phenomenon of late 2019. Three seasons have aired with a feature film, The Mandalorian & Grogu, set for May 2026. ✗ Wrong. The answer is Din Djarin. Boba Fett is the famous bounty hunter from the original trilogy, with his own Disney+ spinoff (The Book of Boba Fett, 2021). Cobb Vanth is the Tatooine marshal played by Timothy Olyphant. Bo-Katan Kryze is the Mandalorian princess played by Katee Sackhoff. The Mandalorian himself is Din Djarin. NEXT → 07 Order 66 — the secret directive that turns the Republic’s clone troopers against their Jedi commanders and effectively ends the Jedi Order — is dramatised in the climactic third act of which prequel film? AEpisode I: The Phantom Menace BEpisode II: Attack of the Clones CEpisode III: Revenge of the Sith DRogue One ✓ Correct! Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005). Palpatine’s “Execute Order 66” comm to the clone armies leads to the methodical, planet-by-planet liquidation of the Jedi Order — one of the saga’s most operatic sequences, scored to John Williams’ “Anakin’s Betrayal” cue. The same film features Anakin’s fall to the Dark Side, the Mustafar duel with Obi-Wan, and his rebirth as Darth Vader in the suit. Widely re-evaluated as the best of the prequels. ✗ Wrong. The answer is Revenge of the Sith. Phantom Menace ends with Qui-Gon’s death and the unveiling of Darth Maul. Attack of the Clones ends with the Clone Wars beginning. Rogue One is set just before A New Hope, after Order 66 has long since happened. The Order 66 sequence is the climax of Episode III. NEXT → 08 Andor (2022–25) is widely regarded as the most adult, politically literate Star Wars project ever made — a slow-burn prequel to Rogue One charting Cassian Andor’s radicalisation against the Empire. The series was created and showrun by a writer/director best known for the original Bourne trilogy and Michael Clayton. Name him. ATony Gilroy BRian Johnson CJon Favreau DDave Filoni ✓ Correct! Tony Gilroy. He’d previously been brought in for extensive Rogue One reshoots in 2016, and Lucasfilm gave him near-total creative independence on Andor. Season 1 (12 episodes, 2022) is widely regarded as Star Wars’ finest dramatic writing ever; Season 2 (also 12 episodes, in four three-episode jumps across 2025) closes the gap to Rogue One’s opening scene. Gilroy’s prior credits: Bourne Identity / Supremacy / Ultimatum / Legacy, plus directing Michael Clayton (2007). ✗ Wrong. The answer is Tony Gilroy. Rian Johnson directed The Last Jedi (2017). Jon Favreau created The Mandalorian and is Lucasfilm’s Disney+-era animation/live-action lieutenant. Dave Filoni runs the Filoniverse (Clone Wars, Rebels, Ahsoka, the upcoming Heir to the Empire film). Andor is Tony Gilroy’s. REVEAL MY RATING → The Force Has Spoken · Final Tally Your Galactic Standing 🗡️ / 8 Jedi Master — or moisture farmer on Tatooine? ⤴ ANOTHER GO Created by George Lucas First Film Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope Cast Mark Hamill, James Earl Jones, David Prowse, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Ian McDiarmid, Ewan McGregor, Rosario Dawson, Lars Mikkelsen, Rupert Friend, Moses Ingram, Frank Oz, Pedro Pascal TV Show(s) The Mandalorian, Andor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, The Acolyte, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, Lando, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels, Star Wars: The Bad Batch, Star Wars: Resistance, Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures, Star Wars: Visions Movie(s) Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi, Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens, Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi, Star Wars: Episode IX- The Rise of Skywalker, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi, Star Wars: New Jedi Order Character(s) Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Rey Skywalker, Emperor Palpatine / Darth Sidious, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano, Grand Admiral Thrawn, Grand Inquisitor, Reva (The Third Sister), The Fifth Brother, The Seventh Sister, The Eighth Brother, Yoda, Din Djarin, Grogu, Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, Leia Organa, Ben Solo/Kylo Ren Star Wars is a multimedia franchise that started in 1977 by creator George Lucas. After the release of Star Wars: Episode IV- A New Hope (originally just titled Star Wars), the franchise quickly exploded, spawning multiple sequels, prequels, TV shows, video games, comics, and much more. After Disney acquired the rights to the franchise, they quickly expanded the universe on Disney+, starting with The Mandalorian. Created by James Cameron First Film Avatar Latest Film Avatar: The Way of Water Upcoming Films Avatar: Fire and Ash, Avatar 4, Avatar 5 Cast Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Giovanni Ribisi, Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, CCH Pounder, Edie Falco, Jermaine Clement Movie(s) Avatar, Avatar: The Way of Water, Avatar: Fire and Ash, Avatar 4, Avatar 5 The Avatar franchise, created by James Cameron, is a groundbreaking sci-fi saga set in the lush, alien world of Pandora. It explores the conflict between the indigenous Na'vi people and human colonizers from Earth, focusing on themes of environmentalism, imperialism, and the clash of civilizations. The franchise is renowned for its innovative use of 3D technology and visual effects, creating a visually stunning and immersive cinematic experience.