How did fantasy became mainstream?

[NickGOT456]

Do you think LOTR and Harry Potter helped make fantasy mainstream which in turn led to the success of GOT?

Can something like this happen to the space opera genre?

Will Star Wars and Guardians of the Galaxy do for space opera what LOTR and Harry Potter did for fantasy?

[King Tyrion I]

IMO, fantasy is "just" a genre. Like drama, like crime novels.

Basically there's a couple of plots and settings. Regardless, what you write.

You could write a modern day version of "Romeo and Juliet" and it's still "Romeo and Juliet". Because the conflicts stay pretty much the same. Two families (gangs) and their troubles.

[Greywolf2375]

Star Wars did for Sci-Fi what LotR and HP did for Fantasy when the OT was released. I don't believe Guardians of the Galaxy is that important other than as a part of the MCU - which is in its own right ground-breaking. Dune is a much better example of a seminal text in space opera history.

Harry Potter, whilst obviously incredibly influential, is a very different type of fantasy to GoT. I find it hard to accept that it helped open the floodgates to popularity in that respect, because the target audiences are so different. It certainly didn't help inspire GoT, which was started years before Harry Potter was.

 

While it is true that there are different types of fantasy, to the average reader/viewer - fantasy is fantast.  LOTR, HP, GOT - they are all "fantasy" the same way D&D is.

[Stannis Eats No Peaches]

While it is true that there are different types of fantasy, to the average reader/viewer - fantasy is fantast.  LOTR, HP, GOT - they are all "fantasy" the same way D&D is.

I doubt that the average viewer would consider watching LOTR simply because they enjoyed Harry Potter though. They're too different.

[Corvinus85]

I think video games have had an impact, too, on the success of fantasy movies and TV shows. The number and appeal of video games in the last decade has led, imo, to more people looking into fantasy, and giving movies and shows a chance.

[Fat Mac]

Fantasy is a really broad genre. Wizard of Oz is considered fantasy.

I'd say Lord of the Rings is really what kicked it off. Harry Potter I'd credit with starting the adaptation of children's book series.

[NickGOT456]

I think video games have had an impact, too, on the success of fantasy movies and TV shows. The number and appeal of video games in the last decade has led, imo, to more people looking into fantasy, and giving movies and shows a chance.

We will there ever be an epic space opera game that does what the fantasy video games did for their genre?

[AndrewJ]

It's not just one fantasy game that contributed. It's the accumulation of them over a decade or two.

And Mass Effect has already taken the first step for Space Opera. It remains to be seen whether others will take the ball and run with it.

[Corvinus85]

We will there ever be an epic space opera game that does what the fantasy video games did for their genre?

Yes, Mass Effect. Star Citizen, if it's ever released. 

[Buckwheat]

I recently read too much about theories on the terminology of fantasy to even know what fantasy is anymore. By some strict literary theories, most things we talk about as fanstasy are not fantasy at all, it would seem.

I doubt that the average viewer would consider watching LOTR simply because they enjoyed Harry Potter though. They're too different.

I actually think that is more likely than the other way round (that somebody would see LOTR and then decide to watch HP because of it).

[Stannis Eats No Peaches]

I recently read too much about theories on the terminology of fantasy to even know what fantasy is anymore. By some strict literary theories, most things we talk about as fanstasy are not fantasy at all, it would seem.

I actually think that is more likely than the other way round (that somebody would see LOTR and then decide to watch HP because of it).

Really? They are both fantasy, but beyond that they seem very different on the surface and I just don't think people would naturally watch one based on their experience with the other.

[MercenaryChef]

Clearly it got cool cause I was into it.  

[The Anti-Targ]

I doubt that the average viewer would consider watching LOTR simply because they enjoyed Harry Potter though. They're too different.

I dunno. If the average viewer was someone who had not seen a fantasy movie before, gave HP a try and decided they really liked it. I think they would be more inclined to give LOTR a go after having watched HP than before they watched HP. Once you actually gain an appreciation for a genre you are more positively disposed to broaden your exposure to the genre. And this in part ultimately connects HP and GoT. Parents who took their kids to HP and quite liked it and ended up watching the whole series for their own enjoyment would have been primed to to think GoT might be worth watching, whereas if they had never exposed themselves to any form of fantasy before GoT came along they might have completely let the series pass them by.

OTOH a friend of mine who is a major LOTR movie fan had to be figuratively tied down to a lounge chair and forced to watch episode 1 of season 1 of GoT, on Blu-ray. But she was completely hooked from that moment on and she binged the whole of the first 2 seasons within about a month before season 3 started. So, there are people of all types out there. So it's only in general terms that I would say people who like one sub-type of fantasy are more likely to be interested in trying another sub-type.

[Stannis Eats No Peaches]

I dunno. If the average viewer was someone who had not seen a fantasy movie before, gave HP a try and decided they really liked it. I think they would be more inclined to give LOTR a go after having watched HP than before they watched HP. Once you actually gain an appreciation for a genre you are more positively disposed to broaden your exposure to the genre. And this in part ultimately connects HP and GoT. Parents who took their kids to HP and quite liked it and ended up watching the whole series for their own enjoyment would have been primed to to think GoT might be worth watching, whereas if they had never exposed themselves to any form of fantasy before GoT came along they might have completely let the series pass them by.

OTOH a friend of mine who is a major LOTR movie fan had to be figuratively tied down to a lounge chair and forced to watch episode 1 of season 1 of GoT, on Blu-ray. But she was completely hooked from that moment on and she binged the whole of the first 2 seasons within about a month before season 3 started. So, there are people of all types out there. So it's only in general terms that I would say people who like one sub-type of fantasy are more likely to be interested in trying another sub-type.

 Maybe it's just me then who just doesn't think people would jump from LOTR to HP.

[The Anti-Targ]

It's not like I said people would jump from LOTR to HP or the other way around. I just think people would be more likely to give the other a go and would generally be inclined to liked it because some of what puts people off is the fantasy elements, but if you like one form of fantasy you are obviously comfortable with general fantasy stuff, like magic and weird creatures.

[red snow]

Funnily enough, given the forum, I'd say GOT is a better current candidate than 10 year old franchises. WRT LOTR I'd say the Hobbit sucked a lot of good will right back out. Fantastic Beasts will probably be a nice boost though.
 I 'd also add that outside of those examples it's not like TV and film have been cluttered with hugely successful Fantasies. So I think it's more a case of people like really good things. As someone else said it's a genre and until I see lots of Fantasy programming doing well, I'm sticking with the idea it's just the good examples of it.

Fast and Furious is a very successful franchise but it didn't mean fast cars were necessarily main stream. Look at "need for speed".

Episode VII will hopefully do for star wars what Star Wars did for SCi-fi (and tbh honest Fantasy) back in the day. Now we're in the age of the shared universe franchise that's all Disney want to achieve, a platform for releasing lots of Star Wars. The Marvel template suggests that's what audiences want - more of the same but not necessarily more of the same genre. eg they may eagerly want to see Rogue One next year but wouldn't give a damn about Independence day 2.