Star Wars Live Action TV Show...

hi all, i remember reading about this some time ago now and was just curious if anything had come of it? i know it's going to be set between episode III and episode IV, but not a whole lot more. does anyone have information on where it's going to be filmed? i can't seem to find much information.

thanks

 

The short version is that is on hold because Lucas Films can't figure out a way to make it cost effective and give it the look they feel it deserves.

 

My guess is that it'll end up being CGI like The Clone Wars.
We do know that the main character will be

Spoiler: a bounty hunter

a coming of age Boba Fett

...but Lucas and co have repeated ad nausem that there won't be any OT character appearances. Which I think is a mistake (esp. if it ends up being CGI!). Actually, I'd prefer they would pursue a post ROTJ or New Jedi Order time period, but Lucas is defiant against it.

 

One of the stories I heard they were going to cover in a episode was to be about Grand Moff Tarkin during the construction of the Death Star.

 

Cool spoiler! Didn't know that.

The Clone Wars has been a success, so it makes sense for them to continue in that vein rather than try to do something that might not be feasible within a TV budget.

Spoiler: speculation based on the spoiler

It would make sense to continue the story post-ROTS with Boba and Ahsoka as one of the few Jedi survivors. Other characters like Yoda and Obi-Wan could also be involved, but the focus would of course be on the teenage characters.

They also seem to be setting up Lux as a character with some real potential. Since he's on the outs with both the Republic (fated to become the Empire) and Separatists, he's a natural to become one of the founders of the Rebellion. Those three characters alone could carry a new series.

 

Which is odd because Lucas sort of pioneered the whole "virtual set" thing to make it possible to do exactly that - give a show the proper look while not breaking the bank.

He should aim for a mini-series, or a limited-run (i.e. British-length) series. Read that he had something like 22-24 scripts. That's great, but unless he's planning a "24"-like storyline where you need 24 chapters, an introductory mini like nuBSG had, or a 13-episode series (like Doctor Who does), with the possibility of more, should be possible.

And above all, it needs to be made for either cable or something like the BBC so that there's no (or, to be more accurate, less) network renewal pressure. An expensive series made for NBC that doesn't hit sustained #1 in the ratings will be done in 6 or less these days. But shows like Mad Men have run for years quite well on cable, even though their viewership wouldn't crack the top 40 in mainstream network ratings. And something like Star Wars: The Series would make a lot of money on DVD and Blu-ray and download sales to boot. Heck, if Lucas made a "sample episode" and sold it online he'd probably be able to fund more from those sales alone (do a google for "Minister of Chance" for a Doctor Who-related audio drama series that's being produced this way).

Alex

 

Star Wars is one of the few space opera series I could envision surviving on broadcast TV. The name alone guarantees a huge initial sampling audience. Lucas just needs to not totally blow it by trying to turn it into Deadwood or whatever atrocity he was thinking of.

Star Wars is like Star Trek in that it has boundaries - there are things it shouldn't try to be, and if you want to do those things in a space setting, call it something else.

But rather than try to make it survive on broadcast, I'd prefer it on FX. Lucas already has a relationship with FOX for the movies, and then you can have your 13-episode season.

 

In addition to what's already been covered, here is the previous thread on the live-action show.

 

I heard the guy who wrote "The Curse of the Black Spot" episode of Doctor Who wrote a script for this planned Star Wars series.

 

Someone should remind him that Boba Fett is an OT character.

 

According to wookiepedia they have written 50 episodes and a movie of the week, which I'm guessing (it doesn't specify in the article) is probably either the first episode or the season finale.

 

Does not give faith.

 

a movie of the week? what does that mean?

 

My guess would be 2 hours.

Haha, well done sir! That's certainly true enough. I hope they don't dilute it to the point that he is no longer the main character. Although that is what makes The Clone Wars refreshing.

 

Lol'ed because I agree. That was an awful episode of Who and I won't be doing backflips to see another story by the author (though, it could still be decent...).

 

Why would anyone commission the writing of 50 full length TV scripts (which is, what, 2000 pages???) for a show which hasn't gone into production yet? That seems completely ridiculous. Are we sure that those are all actually scripts, and not just something like one paragraph story ideas?

 

Lucas is a billionaire, he can do whatever he wants! He privately finances all his productions then finds a distributor later. He made all those Young Indy docus years and years before the DVDs came out, never knowing when they'd actually make any money back.

 

Then you heard wrong. It was in fact Matthew Graham, who wrote the Doctor Who episodes Fear Her and the two-part The Rebel Flesh and The Almost People.

 

^^ I didn't like any of those episodes

 

yah but how can they do 1 movie length ep every week? just seems like so much content.