Live-action Star Wars TV Series – Check. Boba Fett to star in said TV series – Check. All my childhood dreams come true – Check! It was about one month ago now that rumours re-surfaced on Variety about the potential for a live-action Star Wars TV series becoming reality.
ABC network president Channing Dungey confirmed that the wheels were in motion within Disney’s creative divisions about the possibility of a Star Wars live-action series saying:
“As a fan I would absolutely love to say yes. We have had conversations with Lucasfilm and we will continue to have conversations with them. I think it would be wonderful if we could find a way to extend that brand onto our programming.”
“It’s all a little bit hush-hush. That company exists under a big shroud of secrecy. If you feel Marvel is secretive, Lucas takes it to a whole other level. [Talks] are ongoing. We don’t really have an official timeline yet.”
After this carrot was dangled in front of the universe of Star Wars fans we have been waiting for updates as to when the series may become a reality, and what form it would take.
It would appear after the success of the outstanding animated series Star Wars Rebels, that Disney is now pushing the Star Wars live-action series project along with details being announced on the EastCoastMovieGuys website that Boba Fett is going to play a key role.
The sources of EastCoastMovieGuys have advised that:
- Boba Fett will be a base line character throughout the TV series, as well as other possible live-action TV series and films.
- Disney/Lucasfilm have conducted Boba Fett screen tests on the set of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
This second point could tie in with rumours earlier this year that Boba Fett could play a part in Rogue One as lead into the Boba Fett stand-alone film currently scheduled for release in 2018.
Star Wars fans may recall that once upon a time HBO was to develop a Star Wars series named ‘Underworld’, in which Boba Fett would play a central role. However this seemed to evaporate around the same time as the video game Star Wars 1313 (that was to feature Boba Fett) ceased production.
Star Wars 1313 could be back in play however, with Kathleen Kennedy confirming that Disney have not forgotten about Star Wars 1313.
“We don’t want to throw any of that stuff away,” Kennedy told Slashfilm. “It’s gold. And it’s something we’re spending a lot of time looking at, pouring through, discussing, and we may very well develop those things further. We definitely want to.” Could the narrative of the game be re-written to fit with Disney’s new official canon and used for the stand-alone film, or perhaps the TV series?
TV could be a big winner for Disney with opportunities to develop new characters and storylines, new lines of merchandise, and new toys becoming limitless. This would mean that the massive costs of producing these live-action shows would be more than offset by new incoming revenue streams.
We have seen in recent years the special effects possible on TV shows but they do not come cheap with Game of Thrones being estimated to cost HBO $6 Million per episode.
Technically however the special effects Star Wars fans would expect is easily within the grasp of Disney, Lucasfilm and ABC. We have seen in last 10 years the acclaimed TV series BattleStar Galactica, Game of Thrones, Star Trek Discovery, Stranger Things and Falling Skies blurring the line between TV and cinema.
There is a part of me which is concerned about the over-saturation of Star Wars but can you really get too much Star Wars? The number of works produced within the fan driven expanded universe would tell us no.
But the Star Wars creative and marketing teams, and Hasbro, should remember that your products (TV, merchandise, toys) had better be good (really good) if you want to hold our attention.
What do you all think about the possibility of Star Wars expanding into live-action TV? Tell us in the comments area below.