‘Star Wars’ Live-Action TV Series Not Happening At The Moment, Say Execs

By now, consumers are likely aware of the power and money-making potential of Star Wars. Consumers are reminded every generation or so, as a new film installment arrives and droves of people arrive at movie theaters with homemade or store-bought lightsabers. The next film installment of the saga is not set to arrive until December 2017. A date which has been pushed back, much to the dismay of many. But, a few remain hopeful that Disney will cook up some kind of appetizer to tide them over until then. A live-action television series, perhaps? This hope, however, has been dashed by TV and streaming execs who claim the Force will not be coming to the small screen.

Star Wars Underworld has been in development over the past decade, reports theInternational Business Times, and fans have been hopeful that it might get picked up by streaming sites such as Netflix, or at least brought to fruition by Disney once they took over the franchise. However, ABC president Paul Lee has announced that fans should give up on the dream of having a new Star Wars universe indulgence every week. At least for a little while.

Star Wars Underworld was developed by George Lucas in 2005 and had over 50 scripts written by the likes of Ron Moore of the Battlestar Galactica series.

ABC, owned by Disney, would be the most-likely home for a Star Wars live-action television series considering the fact that Disney’s own channel already features the Star Wars Rebels series, a cartoon that does little to satisfy the meticulous palettes of fans, known for their difficulty to please.

“They are focused on their movies,” said Lee. “So we don’t have any plans at the moment.”

A Lucasfilm representative quelled further inquiry by telling TV Line, “Our current focus for TV is on animation [Star Wars Rebels, etc.].”

There are, however, several stand-alone film in the works, such as a Han Solo film, the casting for which has been followed closely by fans, and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy does admit that they are interested in exploring the idea of a live-action series and possibly building upon the Star Wars Underworld concept. Producer Rick MacCallum praised the idea and likened the show to The Godfather or Deadwood. Underworld would take place between the prequel trilogy and the original trilogy and would revolve around two families competing for control of the galaxy’s seedy underbelly. According to io9, George Lucas explains the premise of the show:

“It’s [a] lot more talky. It’s more of what I would call a soap opera with a bunch of personal dramas in it. It’s not really based on action-adventure films from the ’30s – it’s actually more based on film noir movies from the ’40s!”

The live-action series that never happened even deprived fans of a novel featuring Boba Fett as a central character. Author Karen Traviss and her publisher had to cancel the novel because her story-line clashed with canon that would be laid out by the show and Lucas himself.

“Yes, the Boba Fett novel was canceled by the publisher because of potential canon clashes with the upcoming TV series, as you have already heard from other sources. No, I really don’t have a clue what those clashes might be. Sorry.”

It may be a good long while before junkies can get a fresh Star Wars fix. At least, just as long as it would take for them to get a new film. There are rumors that Netflix is negotiating with Disney to produce a live-action series of their own that could be ready to go by 2017.

[Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images]