We’ve been hearing about and adult-oriented Star Wars TV show described as “Deadwood meets Sopranos in space” since 2009. The main reason it didn’t happen was that the TV network would have to spend over $5 million per episode yet hand many of the lucrative rights over to Lucasfilm. So the fifty scripts commissioned by Lucasfilm producer Rick McCallum have been shelved for years. Some of those scripts were written by greats like Battlestar Galactica‘s Ron Moore, so leaving them unmade is a shame. Good news, though. They may find a use after all, and not just as grease catchers for George Lucas’ traditional lunch of 50 White Castle sliders. (What were the odds we could get through the first paragraph without a fat joke? NEVER TELL ME THE ODDS.)
EW reports that Disney’s deal to acquire Lucasfilm has opened the door for the Star Wars TV show now that Disney can keep all of the profits from an expensive TV production on their ABC network.
Sources say the live-action series centers on the story of rival families struggling over the control of the seedy underside of the Star Wars universe and the people who live within the subterranean level and air shafts of the metropolis planet Coruscant (the Empire’s urban-sprawl-covered home planet). A bounty hunter may be the main character. Set between the original Star Wars film trilogy and the prequels, the time period allows for all sorts of potential appearances from classic figures from the Star Wars universe. […] If all this sounds vaguely familiar, it might be because this roughly matches the description of the upcoming Star Wars videogame 1313. In fact, sources say story materials and the designs for the TV project were used to help make the game. [EW via Vulture]
If this is going to be like Deadwood in space, we have to decide which character says the word c–ksucker the most. We’re betting on R2-D2. That dude was constantly swearing in the movies.
(Yeah, we know ABC isn’t going to handle this as awesomely as HBO would, but we can dream.)
[Pictures via Epic Ponyz and Reddit.]