New details have emerged regarding George Lucas' canceledStar Warsshow he was working on in the late 2000s, just before he sold Lucasfilm to Disney. TitledStar Wars: Underworld, the series envisioned for network television would have taken place during the Dark Times afterRevenge of the Sith, showing the growing seeds of Rebellion during the reign of the Galactic Empire. While details have been scarce, we’ve recently learned new insights about Lucas' full vision and why the show never materialized beyond scripts and some concept footage.
In a new episode of theYoung Indy Chroniclerspodcast,producer Rick McCallum shares some exciting details aboutStar Wars: Underworldand what Lucas had planned for the live-actionStar Warsshow, which was going to be aimed towards a more adult audience, not unlikeAndor:
“I think we had over sixty scripts, third-draft scripts…again, the most wonderful writers in the world on it. We created exactly the same experience for everybody on the Ranch…it was a phenomenal group of talent. These were dark. These were not…they were sexy, they were violent, they were just absolutely wonderful, wonderful…complicated, challenging…it would have blown up the wholeStar Warsuniverse. And Disney definitely never would have offered to buy it from George. [laughs] It’s one of the great disappointments of our lives. But the problem was, each episode was bigger than the films. The lowest I could get it down to, with the technology that existed then, was about $40 million an episode.”
Remarkably, it sounds as though the sheer cost of producing the show was far too high, exceeding the cost of the original six movies had Lucas been able to get 100 episodes made.For reference, a single episode ofThe Mandaloriancosts on average about $15 million, while McCallum confirmed that the lowest he could ever get per episode forUnderworldwas 40. McCallum also revealed a few more exciting insights, such as the show’s intended connections to otherStar Warsprojects that were also canceled, John Williams' expected involvement with the score, and the one company that nearly got the show greenlit.
Rick McCallum Reveals Major Details About George Lucas' Underworld Show
60 Completed Scrips, Cost, And Connections To 1313
Beyond the reveal that 60 scripts had been written out of the 100 planned,Rick McCallum also confirmed thatStar Wars: Underworldwould have tied into the plannedStar Warsvideo game titled1313. Developed by LucasArts,1313was a darker game similarly set in the lower levels of Coruscantwhich would have starred Boba Fett in his early years as a bounty hunter. However, the game was canceled shortly afterUnderworld.
Despite the great expense, McCallum revealed that Lucas did have a meeting lined up with the current CEO of HBO. At the time, HBO was the only company capable of producing the show at the scale required with the technology available. However, said CEO got caught up in a scandal the day before the meeting and was let go.
“It’s currently unknown if the 60 completed scripts ofUnderworldwere given to Disney outright alongside the spec scripts Lucas had written for a sequel trilogy…”
Things then progressed to the point that the show was canceled just before Lucas ultimately sold Lucasfilm to Disney in 2012.Elements of bothUnderworldand 1313 have made their way into the canon and have seemingly inspired episodes ofThe Clone Warsand Disney’s other live-action shows. However, it’s currently unknown if the 60 completed scripts ofUnderworldwere given to Disney outright alongside the spec scripts Lucas had written for a sequel trilogy.
Our Take On The Star Wars Show That Never Was
Lucasfilm Needs To Revive Underworld
Disney and Lucasfilm’sAndoris certainly the proof in the pudding thatStar Warscontent geared towards an adult audience can be a major success. However, the upcoming second season will also be its last with its events leading right up to the start of 2016’sRogue One: A Star WarsStory.With that in mind, perhaps the time has come to finally reviveStar Wars: Underworld, especially if Disney and Lucasfilm do indeed have those 60 scripts just sitting there unused and archived.
Considering ILM’s advancements in technology and visual effects like with “The Volume”, one could imagine the show could be produced far cheaper than it could have in the late 2000s.Likewise, a newStar Warsshow from the mind of George Lucas himself would be a major selling point. It could also be a great excuse to revive1313as well, giving Lucasfilm another exciting transmedia initiative to promote, seeing as how The High Republic initiative is close to reaching its end.
