"Star Wars: Underworld Cancellation Due to High Costs"

I’m not gonna lie: this one stings. Star Wars prequels producer Rick McCallum recently revealed that the legendary cancelled series, Star Wars: Underworld, would've cost a staggering $40 million per episode to produce. This hefty price tag ultimately led to its cancellation due to budget constraints.

“The problem was that each episode was bigger than the films,” McCallum explained during an interview on the Young Indy Chronicles podcast. “So the lowest I could get it down to with the tech that existed then was $40 million an episode.” He further emphasized that the inability to successfully bring the project to fruition over the years remains “one of the great disappointments of our lives.”

With 60 “third draft” scripts written, showcasing the Star Wars universe in “sexy, violent, dark, challenging, complicated, and wonderful” ways from “the most wonderful writers in the world,” it's clear that the budget was the true killer in the crib for this project. At 60 scripts times $40 million an episode, the cost would've soared well into the $1 billion mark — a sum even George Lucas himself couldn’t muster back in the early 2000s.

“[It] would’ve blown up the whole Star Wars universe and Disney would’ve definitely never offered George to buy the franchise,” McCallum added. The series was officially axed once Disney took control of Lucasfilm and Lucas stepped aside.

Though McCallum did not confirm any plot details during this interview, fans have long speculated that the series would cover the events between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. The producer previously revealed that the series would introduce a whole new cast of characters, significantly expand the Star Wars universe, and target an adult audience rather than teens and children.

Star Wars: Underworld was first unveiled at Star Wars Celebration back in 2005, and test footage from the series was leaked in 2020. Unfortunately, it seems that this may be the last we hear of it. Sadly, it looks as though it may just stay that way.

[ttpp]