I’m going with the idea that the reboot movie is just a minor offshoot of the original universe. The books are continuing on in the original universe. Star Trek Online takes place in the original timeline after the events that led up to the reboot movie (Romulus blowing up and such). With new movies, they seem to want to play in the offshoot timeline, but Michael Dorn wants to do a Captain Worf series as well. Both timelines can exist at the same time.

Anyway, I’m not terribly worried.  Two generations of fans have grown up with the SW universe, and many people who work as science fiction writers, movie directors, special effects technicians, etc., decided they wanted to do this kinda stuff for a living as a direct result of having their minds blown by seeing Star Wars as a kid.  Probably some astronauts, too.  And there’s one thing that absolutely everyone with even a passing interest in Star Wars on a creative level knows very well indeed: how George screwed up.  Even people who genuinely like the prequels understand that a whole lot of people don’t like them.  The most philistine, dollar-chasing, bottom-line-fixated studio accountant recognizes that, adjusting for inflation, the old SW movies are #2, #12, and #15 on the all-time box office list  whereas the prequels are #16, #87, and #60 on that list.

For once, it simply makes prudent financial sense for Disney to have a good script in hand before they shoot.  This brand is already damaged by prioritizing story and character below VFX and kiddie appeal.  And Disney certainly wants to get its money’s worth out of that $4 billion investment.  One more bad movie on the level of, say, Attack of the Clones will keep audiences away for a generation.