We're Too Rich To Die!

Slate has this "is this the end of Star Wars" article up today and I wanted to mention it briefly before I go help a user with something... Although I'm not a fan of what Star Wars has become, I don't think the end is anytime soon. Simply put, it's too big of a juggernaut to just roll over and die - this week, or next, this year or next - they'll still be stumbling along 20 years from now and you can quote me.

When you get to be big enough, your own personal wealth and brand power transcend a person's opinion. Given enough money and slick marketing, any bad product can continue to perform profitably in this market - just look at Ford and GM. Bad quarters, layoff 100,000 people? No problem! We'll be back next year -- we're too rich to die! Star Wars has become the Ford of sci-fi and the GM of pop culture. Everyone knows they could be doing better but they've become too large and too much of a big company to be out there on the cutting edge. You can't manage your way to the creativity that launched the original Model T or the Millennium Falcon - those ideas were created in a place that first built a box around itself and said "Management - STAY OUT".

But what do you do when you become the big cheese? How do you get to start over again? I'm not trying to be smart or rhetorical -- I would genuinely like to know.