Hey remember that time there was talk of a gritty ‘Star Wars’ hour-long drama on TV called ‘Star Wars: Underworld’? No? Me neither, but that was apparently a thing at some point and it was masterminded by the king of all things gritty George Lucas. It would have starred a nine year old kid and a goofy sidekick as they dumb-fu**ed their way across the galaxy. Not really, but sounds plausible. It was actually described as ‘The Godfather’ meets ‘Deadwood’ in space. (So… not ‘Star Wars’ at all?)
Reportedly, ‘Star Wars: Underworld’ already had 50 scripts ready to roll, when Lucasfilm was sold to Disney who dropped the project altogether. (50? Really?)
If you want ‘Star Wars’ on TV, hope you like animation as that’s the only way the franchise will be presented on TV. “Our current focus for TV is on animation [Star Wars Rebels, etc.].” reports one Lucasfilm source.
Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy expressed that there was still a chance of ‘Underworld’ showing up on Netflix. She described that option as “something we would very much like to explore.”
On the flip side, another insider expressed that not brancing out to television may be a wiser idea. “It’s smart brand [not doing a TV show]. I imagine, they’re looking to avoid the Marvel-ization of the franchise.” Meaning it’s better to let the movies stand on their own, rather than watering things down with an ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’-style series that builds off the success of the movie franchise without actually adding anything to it.
At any rate, if a ‘Star Wars’ TV show were to materialize, it would be without the input of the director of ‘The Force Awakens.” J.J. Abrams says “Since my TV deal is at [Warner Bros, it is unlikely that [my production company] Bad Robot will be involved in any Star Wars television projects.”
Are you bummed? Did you want to see a TV show based on the current ‘Star Wars’ series?
Source: TV Line
