A couple of days ago it was fairly hard to escape science fiction lovers and pun-happy people spouting the phrase 'May the fourth be with you.'

I don't know the exact date but at some point we all simply accepted that May 4th is officially Star Wars day and with a new Star Wars film being released in December (free from the interfering and apparently cursed hands of its creator, George Lucas) this particular May 4th was injected with an added air of excitement.

After all, the director of Episode VII: The Force Awakens is none other than JJ Abrams – the man who managed to breathe new life into Star Trek, which cinematic coroners had pronounced time of death around 2005.

Surely this is a good thing though? Why headline an article about Disney ruining cinema when they're clearly rejuvenating previously lacklustre or failing properties?

For the simple inclusion of that final word: properties. For those unaware, allow me to explain.

Disney aren't just the owners of theme parks and producers of animated films about ice powers, they're a conglomerate company who have acquired the rights to some of the biggest selling properties of this decade.

Disney Studios, Pixar Animation, Marvel Entertainment, LucasFilm, The Muppets Studio – all owned by The Walt Disney Company. And none of these subsidiaries have a single original project lined up; every announced release from now until 2019 is a remake, sequel or an adaptation and that is a thoroughly disturbing fact.

Imagine you're a writer or an independent filmmaker and you have just penned the next Citizen Kane.

Your industry friends read over your script and agree that it's a monumental achievement which may change the face of cinema forever.

Imbued with confidence, you skip to your local major studio (humour me) and pitch your film, only to be greeted with the phrase, 'How does this tie into our shared universe?'

And therein lies the problem. Disney are making money hand over fist, so why would they risk a single dollar on an unknown story? With your confidence now dwindling, you muster what little courage remains and argue the merits of a well-made film.

To which Disney retort, 'Our films not only make billions, they're critical wonders.'

So no matter how good your film may be, it's competing against tried and tested products which are making obscene amounts of money, generating infinite merchandising opportunities and being heralded as the greatest achievements in modern cinema.

How can you win?

At this point, I should confess that I'm part of the problem. I think Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be amazing and spawn a wondrous expanded universe.

Furthermore, I love the Marvel movies and every time Disney announce a new live-action adaptation of an animated classic it fares well.

Oh, and we have Frozen 2 to look forward to, despite the fact a sequel was never on the table before.

And while I'm caught up in the revelry of it all now, if this pattern persists for another 10/20 years, what's left?

We're talking about one of the biggest and most powerful production companies who are simply cannibalising their own work because that's what sells.

It doesn't take a genius to see that this creative oil well has a finite amount of yield and an entire generation of talent is being squandered on trying to pen a live-action remake of Winnie The Pooh.

It's like asking Leonardo Da Vinci to scrap that Mona Lisa lark and trace the Bayeux Tapestry because it brings in the tourists.

And frankly, it has to stop.