Written By: Ken HulseySource: WENN
For about five years now, George Lucas and his team at Lucasfilm have been really trying to develop a television series that takes place in the "Star Wars" universe in the time between "Revenge of the Sith" and "A New Hope". Reportedly this show would have featured characters and locations not seen any of the prior "Star Wars" films, video games, television series, television specials or mountains of merchandise.
I use the words, "would have", in the paragraph above because it now looks as if this potential television series is being put into a permanent 'holding pattern', possibly grounded and shoved off into a hanger never to be heard from again.
Ever since the series was first announced way back in 2005 there have been rumors about potential cast members, scripts, and even that the series was in production. Of course, as soon as any of these rumors would start to circulate around, Lucas, or one of his staff, would be quick to dismiss them as nothing more than Internet spread fallacies.
Now, Lucas has come forward to tell the fans that indeed there are scripts, some casting did take place last year, and production could start right away. Only one problem. The film maker has no clue how to produce the show with the limit budget that is allocated for it.
At a recent screening of "The Empire Strikes Back" in Chicago, the film maker told the crowd in attendance that the show was 'shelved' until he could figure out how to make it work stating,"The live action TV show is kind of on hold because we have scripts, but we don't know how to do them.
"They literally are Star Wars, only we're going to have to try to do them (at) a tenth (of) the cost. And it's a huge challenge, (a) lot bigger than what we thought it was gonna be."
Translation: "We really want to use a lot of really cool looking CGI effects that are so dazzling, that you will have to watch each episode over-and-over again to see everything we throw in."
To me the answer here is simple. Way back in the seventies, Lucas didn't have the kind of resources that he has today, yet he was able to produce one of the best, if not the best, science fiction movie of all-time ..... "Star Wars". The effects were simple, effective, and for the most part, not all too expensive.
If the series is to be made, the film maker is going to have to do it 'old school' with cheaper effects, actual 'real world' shooting locations, and stronger character driven stories.
High end special effects and make up have been the killer of more than one sci fi television series, namely the original "Battlestar Galactica", which had huge ratings, and "Planet of the Apes", which did not.
Unless Lucas changes his way of thinking, the same could be said about "Star Wars", and it never even made it on the air ....... well, not yet anyway.
See Also: The Latest Issue Of STAR WARS INSIDER Free Online / Star Wars - A New Hope - Full Size Wall Mural / Star Wars - Boba Fett Bust / Bank / Star Wars - Slave Leia In Her Metal Bikini - Mini Bust / Star Wars Deluxe AT-AT Vehicle / Star Wars News - TomTom GPS, More Robot Chicken And Darth Vader Banned From Conventions / Star Wars - Death Trooper / Zombie Stormtrooper Bust / New STAR WARS TV And Movie Series To Be UNLEASHED? / Darth Vader Had Emotional Problems ...... Ya Think? / An Idea That Is Way Overdue - Star Wars Themed Lingerie! / Spaceballs (1987)(MGM) / Lucas Begins Casting The Star Wars TV Series / Hey! Remember Mark, The Yoda Puppet Costs More Than You Do! / Can You Believe Someone Dropped $10,000 On Star Wars Collectibles?!! / EE Exclusive Star Wars Holiday Edition Jawas Action Figures / Darth Vader Invades Japan / Star Wars R2-D2 Interactive Astromech Droid / Star Wars Exclusive Ecliptic Evader TIE Fighter With Hobbie / Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge Of The Sith Trailer / Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008)(Warner Bros) /Star Wars: The Clone Wars - What Are The Clone Wars? / Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Designing A New Galaxy /Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Lucas And Filoni Talk About The Film / Interview - Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca Speaks!) / Famous People Talk About Star Wars / Mark Hamill - 1978 Star Wars Press Conference / Carrie Fisher – Lunch With Monsters At A Chinese Restaurant / Star Wars - The Missing Pieces / Peter Cushing – The Good Man Behind Evil Characters / Star Wars Production Notes: R2-D2 (Artoo-Detoo) / Star Wars Production Notes: The Sandcrawler / Star Wars Production Notes: The Landspeeder