For years it has been rumored that there could potentially be a live action Star Wars TV show, and it’s still a possibility according to ABC president Paul Lee.
Star Wars: Underworld (working title), the long-rumored live action Star Wars TV show, had been assumed to be swept under the carpet after Disney bought Lucasfilms, but it appears that may not be the case.
At the Television Critics Association press tour, IGN asked ABC President Paul Lee if there would ever be a chance of a Star Wars TV series coming to ABC. While he didn’t say yes or no, he did give the impression that it’s something ABC would like to do:
I certainly have a glint in my eye. They have a lot on their plate when you look at the features that they’re planning on rolling out for the next few years, but we’ve started conversations with them.
It certainly wouldn’t come as a shock to see a Star Wars TV series, possibly even the Star Wars: Underworld series that had been rumored for some time. ABC is already doing something similar with their other huge franchise: Marvel. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. of course premieres this fall, and if it’s successful (spoiler alert: it’s going to be), we can see ABC as being determined to follow in the same path with Star Wars.
Of course, they would have to come up with a Star Wars show that would work. It had been rumored that over 50 different scripts for Star Wars: Underworld had been written. In 2012, the show’s producer talked about why it was such a hard show to get on the air (via ScreenCrush):
Our biggest problem is that these stories are adult. I mean…these are like ‘Deadwood’ in space. It so unlike anything you’ve ever associated with George before in relation to ‘Star Wars.’ These aren’t for kids. I mean, we hope they’ll watch, but it’s not being targeted at 8-to-9 year old boys.
The situation we have is that each episode – or if you put two hour long episodes together – is bigger than any film we’ve ever done. It’s on the ‘Avatar‘ level and we’ll only have about $5-6 million we can spend on each episode.
We think it’s probable that if ABC ever decided that they wanted a Star Wars TV show that they’d elect for something based around the same age level as Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. They want to get the most viewers, and that requires a show that can be seen by all ages.