Tuesday 10 January 2012

Star Wars: Underworld



The long-gestating live-action Star Wars television series has a working title, but no release date!

Underworld.

Before you leap for joy at the prospect of seeing Kate Beckinsale as a bounty hunter. This isn't a cross-over with the actor's storied franchise of the same name.

IGN (owned by News Corporation, which distributes the Star Wars movies) recently interviewed Rick McCallum who is no stranger to episodic television and produced the Emmy Award-Winning The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles.

"The scripts take place between episodes III and IV," says McCallum. "It's that twenty-year period when Luke is growing up. It's not about Luke, but it's about that period when the Empire is really trying to take things forward. It's called Underworld - that's the working title - and it's underneath what's going on: the criminals and the gangs that are running everything. It's like Wall Street, and the criminals that are running the United States!"

Due to alleged budgetary concerns, Underworld won't be hitting television screens anytime soon.

"The prequels only cost $100m each, which in Hollywood is nothing," McCallum claims, "but this is really tough, because we're trying to put the same effects and technology from those two-hour films, into one-hour episodes, and do it every week for $5m an episode.

"We have fifty unbelievable scripts. Each episode is bigger than any of the prequels were, and they're complex and dark and adult. But right now, technologically, there's no way we can do them for that $5m: there's so much digital animation, because we have so many digital characters. So I think the idea is just that we hold off, wait and see if there are any major breakthroughs in the next year or two, and once we can come up with some virtual set software that allows us to travel anywhere, we'll revisit. We'll get there. I just hope I live long enough!"

What are your thoughts on Star Wars: Underworld?

4 comments:

  1. I smell "The Young Boba Fett Chronicles"...

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    Replies
    1. Wouldn't that work better as a CGI mini-series and video game tie-in?

      Delete
  2. Sadly I instantly thought of the CSO heavy Doctor Who story!

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