Scrapped Star Wars Underworld Was "Sexy, Violent," Cost $40M Per Episode
Before Disney bought Lucasfilm, George Lucas had a vision for Star Wars unlike anything we’ve seen: a dark, adult TV series called Underworld. Producer Rick McCallum recently offered new insights into the scrapped project, revealing it would have "blown up the whole Star Wars universe." What a bombshell! This wasn't your usual family-friendly Star Wars.
McCallum, a long-time Lucas collaborator, described the episodes as "sexy, violent, complicated, [and] challenging." Lucas even tapped Ronald D. Moore, known for his groundbreaking work on Battlestar Galactica, to potentially showrun. Imagine that creative team shaping a Star Wars narrative that truly pushed boundaries. It promised a radically different direction for the galaxy far, far away.
The ambition, however, came with an astronomical price tag. Each episode demanded $40 million – a staggering sum even today, let alone over a decade ago. For context, HBO's acclaimed Band of Brothers cost around $12-13 million per episode at the time. This massive budget was ultimately the series’ undoing.
“Underworld would have been 'sexy, violent, complicated, challenging' and 'blown up the whole Star Wars universe.'”
Catzye Take
This glimpse into an alternate Star Wars timeline is fascinating. It suggests Lucas himself was ready to push the franchise into truly mature territory, a path Disney has only timidly explored. Fans can only dream of what a Ronald D. Moore-helmed, dark Star Wars series might have been.
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