Star Wars: Underworld

The Star Wars live-action TV series is a science fiction television series currently set to debut in 2009. It will be an Expanded Universe production set in the fictional Star Wars galaxy. The series will be set during the 19-year timespan between the films Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (19 BBY–0 BBY), and will focus on minor characters of the Star Wars galaxy, rather than those seen prominently in the films.

Plot
The series is set between 19 BBY and 0 BBY, referred to as "the dark times" by Obi-Wan Kenobi in A New Hope. It is during this period that the newly formed Galactic Empire will rise to ultimate power throughout the galaxy. It is during this time period that the first Death Star will be constructed, albeit with many problems along the way.

Lucas confirmed that the series will not involve the Skywalkers and that it will be for more mature audiences, along the lines of the TV shows Battlestar Galactica and Firefly. Lucas described the show to USA Today as "bare-bones" and "action-heavy." Most of the stories will be told from the perspective of minor characters from the Star Wars galaxy. Lucas has described it as "one show that will split into four shows, focusing on different characters." Lucas described the series' plot: "a lot of the issues from the films are connected, but you won't necessarily see a lot of the people that are connected." In a 2006 interview, when asked about the show, McCallum replied, "Think about bounty hunter, that’s all I can tell you."

According to Dan Wasson, project leader for the Wii version of the Star Wars: The Force Unleashed video game, the TV series may contain elements from the overall Star Wars: The Force Unleashed multimedia project.

In an interview in the November 2005 edition of the UK magazine Total Film magazine, McCallum is asked "How can Leia claim to remember her mother when Padme dies in childbirth in Sith?", to which he replied "I think that could only be answered in the television series."

An October 15, 2007 AICN report revealed several alleged plot points; The series will involve Podracing and the political interaction that goes with it, and a there will be a plot involving the Death Star plans.

Development
Since the release of the original Star Wars film, George Lucas had been involved (to varying degrees) in three live-action Star Wars productions: The Star Wars Holiday Special, Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure, and Ewoks: The Battle for Endor. While the holiday special was a critical failure, both Ewok films won Emmy awards and had a positive critical reaction. In 1992, Lucas produced the television series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, during which he developed a love of making television.

In late 2004, rumors began to circulate of a live-action Star Wars series in development. Lucas officially announced his plans for a live-action Star Wars television series on April 23, 2005 at the Celebration III fan convention in Indianapolis, Indiana. He also spoke of his plans for a new animated television series set during the Clone Wars. He stated that "we will probably do the animated series first" and that, in reference to the live-action series, "we probably won't start that until sometime next year." The project has yet to be given an official title.

Design
"It's a completely different kind of idea, which is risky. But that's the only reason I'm doing it. Some people will inevitably say, 'It's not what I think of as Star Wars.' So who knows, it may work or it may not."

- George Lucas, Total Film magazine, May 2008 issue, p. 138

Rick McCallum initially stated in 2005 that "He [George] envisions somewhere like 100 hours between Episode III and Episode IV". . However, in 2007 at Celebration Europe, he said that the hope is to do "up to 400 episodes". Like on The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, McCallum and Lucas hope to give each episode the look of a feature film, with feature-level production values and visual effects on a television budget. The style of the series will be similar to Lucas' The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles TV series. Lucas hopes to use the show as a template for how he will do his "more personal films" that he hopes to create. At Celebration Europe, McCallum stated that "I’ve had three conceptual artists working on it now for about seven months."

McCallum says on the writing and plot of the series: "We are just starting to interview writers and trying to really figure out which direction to go to. He envisions somewhere like 100 hours between Episode III and Episode IV with a lot of characters that we haven't met that have been developed in some of the novels and other things. We are really excited about that. Finally, we could have the opportunity to answer everybody's questions once and for all by the time we finish the series." He described the series: "It is going to be much darker, grittier. It's much more character-based." Steve Sansweet later explained that the series will reveal the "greasy, seamy underbelly of Star Wars".

Writing
Lucas and McCallum interviewed over 200 prospective writers for the series from all over the world&mdash;including England, the United States, Paris, Prague, Budapest, and Australia. According to McCallum, Lucas was looking for "writers of real signifigance". Lucas and McCallum were unable to attend Celebration IV because they were in London interviewing writers for the series. At Celebration Europe, McCallum stated that that there would be "a whole bunch of writers from literally all over the world – we have Australia left, that’s the last place we’re going to meet some people – we’re hoping to get a group of six or seven writers ready sometime between September and December to make the final choice and then we’ll start doing story outlines." Writers of the Star Wars books and comics were considered as part of the final interview process in September. Reportedly, writers were also considered from Battlestar Galactica, Heroes, and Lost.

The interview process was supposedly finished by September 2007, with the story outlines taking shape over the next three months after that. In the end, six writers were been hired and were expected to start work in November 2007. A writing conference was initially scheduled for late 2007, but was delayed until early 2008 due to the 2007 writer's strike. The entire first season will be written, then filmed, before soliciting the first season, working on the following seasons once it has a home. The first seasons scripts are currently being written. The writers worked with the art department, which has been working to design sets, environments, vehicles and aliens since 2007.

Filming
Lucas has said that he intends to shoot the series using consumer-level cameras, which Rick McCallum has said will be hi-definition cameras. Lucas has stated that, in producing the show, "we will do what would typically cost $20 million, for $1 million." According to IESB, McCallum has said that each episode will have a budget of 2-4 million dollars. Principal photography will take place all around the world, with a base likely in Sydney, according to McCallum. Rick McCallum expects production to begin in 2008, for a 2009 release. Shooting is scheduled to begin shooting in 2009 in Australia.

Lucas will write and produce the first season, and then "hand it off from there", while remaining executive producer and general overseer throughout the rest of the series. Series producer Rick McCallum expects the first season to consist of thirteen-to-sixteen episodes, shot over a one-to-two-year time period.

Musical score
Rick McCallum stated at Star Wars Reunion 2 that he hopes to have John Williams on the musical score for the series (though too early to tell) and added that each episode will have its own original score.

Cast and characters

 * Daniel Logan   as Boba Fett . Logan portrayed the young Boba Fett in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. He has reportedly been asked by Lucas to reprise his role as Fett for the series.

The series will feature minor characters that will be from both from the films and the Expanded Universe, with possible cameos by some of the main characters. Lucas: "The Emperor and Darth Vader are heard about — people talk about them — but you never see them because it doesn't take place where they actually are. There are storm troopers and all that, but there are no Jedis." Lucas had originally written a scene for Revenge of the Sith involving the Expanded Universe character Quinlan Vos, but the character received only a mention in the final film. Lucas himself later instructed the writers of the Star Wars: Republic comic book series to not kill off the character. This has led some fans to speculate that Vos may play a role in the series. A.C. Crispin proposed a book series dealing with Princess Leia Organa between Episode III and IV, but "Lucasfilm didn't approve the idea of a Leia backstory because they want to keep that era of the SW continuity untouched for the television series they're considering." Although casting is set to begin around June 2008, Ian McDiarmid and Peter Mayhew have expressed interest in reprising their respective roles in the series, and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed actor Sam Witwer has hinted that he may be involved in the show.

The previously mentioned October 15, 2007 AICN report mentioned several alleged details on the series' characters; according to the report, the series will have a more emotionally nuanced, morally gray take on characterization; "Rebel bases and Imperial Star Destroyers...Imperials will be everywhere in the new show - undercover operatives, Imperial Officers of all makes and ambitions, and nearly all of them will be afraid of Darth Vader." The characters Oola, Bib Fortuna, Boba Fett, Thall Joben, a Rebel general named Durron, "a straight-laced Rebel with the last name Naberre [sic]...in his 20s", "at least" one Mandalorian and "General Papanoida".

Crew

 * George Lucas&mdash;creator/executive producer/story
 * Rick McCallum&mdash;producer
 * Erik Tiemens&mdash;concept artist
 * James Marquand&mdash;director

Release and broadcast
In a 2006 interview, Steve Sansweet stated that the series will be released "toward the end of the decade". He gave the time period until release to be "about 3 years". This was supported by an April 2007 poster advertising the next three years of Star Wars: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed in 2007 (it has since been pushed back to 2008), the new Clone Wars TV series in 2008, and the live-action series in 2009.

According to series producer Rick McCallum, the series will be broadcast on cable. Both Disney and News Corp are rumored to have shown interest in acquiring broadcast rights for the show, with the former offering ABC and ABC Family and the latter offering FOX and FX. Lucas is also interested in distributing the series via the internet&mdash;specifically StarWars.com. Rick McCallum expects the series to be released simultaneously worldwide, though he says it is still too early to tell.

Marketing and spin-offs
A teaser image for the series was shown at Toy Fair 2007, and featured a close-up of Boba Fett's helmet.

Jim Ward has stated that the new series offers LucasArts the opportunity to expand the gaming universe of the Star Wars series. According to Ward, "It's a whole environment for us to go and make some great games." LucasArts employees have also discussed this with the media. According to Sue Rostoni, spin-off books are also likely, but as of June 2007, have not yet been discussed.

At Celebration III, Lucas stated that if this series (along with Star Wars: The Clone Wars) is successful, more television series may follow. He explained that he has considered setting the time frames of these possible shows during time periods far away from his films. When asked by a fan at his AFI lifetime achievement ceremony if this may include the Knights of the Old Republic/Sith Wars era, Lucas explained that is always a possibility, and that he may be interested in taking the franchise to those story areas one day. At Celebration Europe, McCallum repeated that "One of the ideas is that we’ll have multiple series going on in about two or three years' time." McCallum hopes that after the series' second or third year, a character could have his/her own spin-off series, and by the fourth or fifth year, the production staff could have at least five separate series running. Indeed, Lucas has described the series as "one show that will split into four shows, focusing on different characters."