Chris Taylor, “How Star Wars Conquered the Universe: The Past, Present, and Future of a Multibillion Dollar Franchise”

Summary: When George Lucas first began to write “The Star Wars”, as it was originally known, he had no idea that it would become his main life’s work. Beginning as a modern Flash Gordon-style space adventure, the eventual series would become arguably the most successful film franchise in history. In his book How Star Wars Conquered the Universe: The Past, Present, and Future of a Multibillion Dollar Franchise (Basic Books, 2014), Chris Taylor, Deputy Editor at Mashable.com, presents a history of the series, from its development when Lucas was a struggling filmmaker to its rebirth when Disney buys Lucasfilm. He presents the franchise as both a film and cultural phenomenon, with both multigenerational and multinational ties. Chris’s Twitter handle is @FutureBoy.