Nothing can defeat The Force. Except, maybe, bad ratings. George Lucas isn't ready to leave his Star Wars universe to history. The sci fi filmmaker has confirmed he's planning to launch a live action TV show based on the legendary film. The mythos that surrounds the 1977 flick and its sequels will be retained, but one thing you definitely won't see is any sign of familiar characters like Darth Vader or Luke Skywalker.
Instead, Lucas is planning to use "minor characters" as the basis for the series. "It's about minor characters," he told the Los Angeles Times. "It's completely different. But it's a good idea, and it's going to be a lot of fun to do." He's joked it's going to be about the life of some robots, but the real plot is a carefully guarded secret.
Lucas claims TV executives - who like to have their shows best expressed in just two words - don't understand what he's planning. His response to them: "It's Star Wars," which in his mind says it all. The show's creator has dabbled in TV before with varying success. He executive produced a series based on the life of a
young Indiana Jones of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" fame." Two movies and a cartoon series about the
Ewoks met with mixed reaction.
But his ill-fated
"Star Wars Holiday Special" that aired only once on November 17, 1978, is considered one of the worst flops in the history of the medium. To this day, Lucas refuses to talk about that epic or allow any video from it to be released.
He's hoping for better things from this venture, but there's no word yet on when the new series might premiere.
Photo credit: Carl De Souza
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