Before George Lucas sold Lucasfilm to Disney for a whopping $4 billion, you may recall that there was talk of a live-action Star Wars TV show for years. It was said that as many as fifty screenplays had been written, but the budget was too high for any network to develop it.
Titled Star Wars: Underworld, the series was first mentioned back in 2005 and was supposed to take place between the events of Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. Lucasfilm producer Rick McCallum once described it as “Deadwood in space”, but with no movement on the show for years, it should come as no surprise to learn it’s not a priority for Disney.
While ABC – the home of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Agent Carter – is obviously the natural place for such a series, they’ve now confirmed that Lucasfilm are concentrating on the Star Wars movies (where the likes of Rogue One and the Han Solo origin story will fill in the gaps between both trilogies), while Lucasfilm have also made it clear they’re prioritising animated properties like Star Wars Rebels. However, does this mean the idea is totally off the table?
After all, there were rumours just last month about a Star Wars show hitting Netflix in 2017, but TVLine hs learned that “they’re looking to avoid the Marvel-ization of the franchise” by spreading the franchise too thin. In other words, Star Wars: Underworld isn’t happening!
Even The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams has weighed in on the matter, explainin that even if one were to happen, he likely won’t be able to be involved with it. “Since my TV deal is at [Warner Bros.],” he explains, “it is unlikely that [my production company] Bad Robot will be involved in any Star Wars television projects.” Well, that’s all very disappointing, eh?
