That fun 'Force Awakens' era (2013-17)
just remembering that fun era of The Force Awakens from when it was announced early 2013..
it felt so surreal that the original cast were coming back for basically "Star Wars 4", the sequel to Return of the Jedi! (and starring Ford, not just a cameo or minor support role. even tho hed said hed never do SW again!) it was like something youd never imagined could ever happen. yet it was (and was to directed by the Star Trek guy! In fact one of the reasons they probably decided to bring back the 'original' SW was how well Star Trek was received nostalgia wise, and certainly why Abrams was top choice), im a SW fan but more like a casual fan, was never into it as a kid in the 80s (despite seeing Jedi at the cinema and SW77 on tv - i was mainly a Star Trek and Superman fan) years later i got it when finally saw Empire on vhs. but for the REAL fans who loved SW from the outset and during the late 70s/80s had the posters on their wall, the action figures and playsets, lunch boxes/pencil cases, duvet covers/curtains/beanbags etc it mustve been absolutely mindblowing (similar for me with Superman Returns and Star Trek 2009) and all the new toys, books, comics, novels, posters* all that stuff (even i picked up a SW comic that was supposed to fill in what happened between ROTJ and TFA, similar to the Star Trek Countdown prequel comic).
*like these
http://www.impawards.com/2015/posters/star_wars_episode_vii__the_force_awakens_ver10.jpg
http://www.impawards.com/2015/posters/star_wars_episode_vii__the_force_awakens_ver6.jpg
http://www.impawards.com/2015/posters/star_wars_episode_vii__the_force_awakens_ver15.jpg
then those incredible 3 trailers hyped everyone to the max (there has been awakening.. chewie we're home.. its true,all of it) until finally TFA came out and was HUGE biggest movie ever domestic (even now still) and 3rd ww behind Avatar/Titanic (with 4th biggest Jurassic World from earlier that summer - yes Jurassic and Star Wars in the same year!) Ford was doing all the talk shows (and it was announced he was going to be doing another Indy and Blade Runner, like the 80s all over again!) and everyone loved it and looked forward to VIII (with the intriguing Rogue 1 to come inbetween - which was a REAL throwback to the original 'Star Wars' before any of the current stream series were even thought of. and again the die hard fans were loving it! 2nd biggest film of the year ww after Captain America Civil War, and 1st domestic).
so then you get the build up to VIII a solid interesting director (Looper), Hamill taking over from Ford as the main legacy character, and an 80s sword & sorcery/fantasy vibe in the trailers and early posters.. then it comes out and ... well.. the fun times sort of come to an end.. (as someone whose studied film and literature academically i thought it was pretty interesting/intriguing in terms of 'deconstructing the myth' and 'subverting expectations'.. with nods to what Star Wars 'means' etc and all the meta stuff, and it being sort of similar thematically to ESB). But TLJ is still a huge hit/biggest movie of the year (not as big as TFA but that was true of the previous 2 trilogies).
then theres the Solo fiasco (1st SW bomb. was crazy to think a SW film made less box office than a Star Trek! - Into Darkness) which leads into Ep 9 losing its original Jurassic World director (who was going to go more inclusive of the prequel trilogy, and making it more a follow on to TLJ) so JJ is back (to make it more like the fan/crowd pleasing TFA, like a sequel to that 1st movie of the trilogy - mirroring the OT in that respect. and chock full of homages to the OT with a few nods to the PT) and so we get TROS.. barely making 1b (unlike the previous trilogies where the box office for the final film went back up after the middle movie dip), really Ep9 should've made near TFA box office or even Avengers Endgame as it was not only the new trilogy finale but the entire Saga finale!
then its tv time (Boba and ObiWan go from films to series due to Solo bombing) and star wars feels kind of 'done' on the big screen and second to Marvel as the Disney big dog (where initially TFA was bigger than any MCU and SW looked like it would continue at the cinema indefinitely with endless 'A SW Story' movies and new trilogies - like Rians trilogy, and the GoT KOTOR movie or trilogy, all cancelled atm)