Star Wars: The Transmedia That Will Never Die

I'm obsessed. There, I said it.

I, like a billions of others who reside on Planet Earth, am completely and manically addicted to anything Star Wars.

Forget the movies. Of course, we love them, too. But it's the swag, the memes, the computer themes, the game apps, the plush toys, hell, even chocolate.

We love Star Wars as much today as we did the first time we laid eyes on IV -- A New Hope (1977).

There is even a Star Wars: Obsession comic book series, as you can see here on Wookieepedia.

When all of us lost our minds for the anticipated Disney release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Business Insider dissected this thing where the entire world can stop on a dime to laugh at a Stormtrooper meme. Writer Drake Baer (now isn't that a great name for a future character?) concludes in his article that since 1977, generations of people have this shared experience that bonds them together as a community.

Damon Linker from The Week posts a bit more of a cynical view. That said, the key takeaway from his piece is that regardless of what is going on in the world, sometimes we all just need an escape and Star Wars is an easy distraction.

Yea, there are some people who haven't seen Star Wars. I haven't been to the Grand Canyon either, but I still don't discount its glory. Anyone who dares to try and squash our passionate enthusiasm for all things George Lucas should try and read our thoughts as we fantasize sending them the imaginary Darth Vader choke hold against their neck.

The sheer numbers of parodies, fan films, merchandising, the fact that scientists are even naming organisms after Star Wars characters -- all of this means that decades from now, the transmedia for these films will only grow.

Asia Slated to Become a Transmedia Hub

Our Chinese counterparts estimate that 70% of new TV and film productions are coming from properties developed first in online literature or printed books.

Asia to be a major player in transmedia content | Digital News Asia

Zhang Yimou’s blockbuster movie The Great Wall starring Hollywood A-listers Matt Damon and Willem Dafoe may be just the injection China needed to bridge the creative hemisphere and bring two worlds together. If the epic trailer is any indication, mission accomplished.

Virtual Reality Theater

It may not look pretty from the outside, but on the inside, it freaking rocks.

Virtual reality isn't a trend. It's here to stay, so entertainment companies better get used to the idea of retooling some of their storytelling to fit the VR cinemas that are popping up all over the world.

Some of you may have thought 3-D was cool, however, 360-D is much cooler. It is like experiencing the story from the inside.

While VR may change the way cinemas are built, it likely won't replace the movie theater as we know it. Retrofitting a room for this type of viewing won't be too expensive, but it's still not that cheap to convert the movies. But what this technology has done is opened up the creative playing field to stretch the boundaries of storytelling, to make the audience a part of the story first-hand.

Vivid VR is scheduled to open on July 16. It is going to be the first virtual reality theater in North America.

The entertainment industry is slowly adapting and creating VR content, but it will be some time before a VR full-length feature film is considered mainstream.

I predict that we will see this platform evolve a lot more by then. Eventually, there won't be a need for those dumb-looking glasses.