STAR WARS: UNDERWORLD - George Lucas' Unmade TV Series Was Going To Cost Over $2.4 Billion To Produce

STAR WARS: UNDERWORLD - George Lucas' Unmade TV Series Was Going To Cost Over $2.4 Billion To Produce

In the late 2000s, George Lucas started planning the first-ever Star Wars TV series. Underworld never happened and, thanks to producer Rick McCallum, we now have new details about the unmade project.

By JoshWilding - Mar 08, 2025 12:03 PM EST
Filed Under: Star Wars
Source: SFFGazette.com

Star Wars: Underworld was a hugely ambitious project imagined by George Lucas as the first live-action TV series set in a Galaxy Far, Far Away. Dozens of scripts were written, but making it proved to be something of a logistical nightmare for Lucasfilm.

Ultimately, it fell by the wayside alongside several other small screen projects when Disney acquired the studio. Since then, we've seen the Kathleen Kennedy-led studio produce several shows for Disney+, including The Mandalorian, Ahsoka, and Obi-Wan Kenobi

We know the series was set on Coruscant and, as the title implies, it was going to explore the planet's Underworld at the height of the Empire's rule.

Little else is known beyond that but former Star Wars franchise producer Rick McCallum has shared some new details (via SFFGazette.com), including the fact each episode was going to cost $40 million to produce.

Considering 60 of them were planned, you can probably see why Lucasfilm struggled to find a network willing to develop it...and to save you doing the math, that's a total budget of $2.4 billion.

"I think we had over 60 scripts. Third-draft scripts," McCallum says in the video below. "Again, the most wonderful writers in the world on it. And again, we created exactly the same experience for everybody at [Skywalker] Ranch, and again just a phenomenal group of talent."

"And these were dark. They were sexy, they were violent, they were just absolutely wonderful. Wonderful, complicated, challenging. I mean, it would have blown up the whole Star Wars universe and Disney definitely would have never offered George to buy it [Laughs]," he continued. "But it’s one of the great disappointments of our life."

"But the problem was each episode was bigger than the films, so the lowest I could get it down to with the technology that existed then was about 40 million an episode."

The plan had been for John Williams to score each episode and it does feel like we missed out on something really interesting here. Of course, with Lucas' vision for the Star Wars prequels proving so divisive, who knows what this series would have been when all was said and done? 

In 2020, writer and producer Ronald D. Moore revealed, "I think it was pretty much one big storyline. It was one long tale with episodic things that would happen. You know, there would be certain events [that] would happen in this episode or this episode, so it was sort of an episodic quality to some of it. But it was telling a larger narrative, in terms of the story of those particular characters in that setting."

However, he also confirmed, "We really had no [budget] constraints...we just went, ‘For this pass, OK let’s just take him at his word just to make it crazy and big’ and there was lots of action, lots of sets, and huge set pieces."

Lucasfilm hasn't revisited Star Wars Underworld and decided not to use Lucas' outlines for the Star Wars sequel trilogy. As a result, those 60 scripts are likely to remain locked away in the studio's vaults. 

You can hear more from McCallum in the player below. 

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SirDuckAlot
SirDuckAlot - 3/8/2025, 12:22 PM
Probably would've been better than the shit we got.
JacobsLadder
JacobsLadder - 3/8/2025, 12:24 PM
@SirDuckAlot - Almost certainly. I still can't get over how shitty that Kenobi was. My goodness. that was next level bad. I didn't watch the Acolyte.
SirDuckAlot
SirDuckAlot - 3/8/2025, 12:30 PM
@JacobsLadder - Kenobi had so much potential along with Boba Fett. Shame that Disney don't know what they're doing.
Usernametaken
Usernametaken - 3/8/2025, 12:31 PM
@JacobsLadder - There is no Kenobi show. Like there is no sequels.

Only thing canon are
The OT
The Prequels
The Mandalorian
Rogue One
Andor

(I know I didn't include animated shows, I'll leave it to someone else to make a list. I'm not against them, I just don't have any interest in them.)
Usernametaken
Usernametaken - 3/8/2025, 12:31 PM
@SirDuckAlot - [frick]ing hell boys, I also forgot Boba Fett existed, stop talking about those, let's just forget they ever existed.
MakeAmericaGrea
MakeAmericaGrea - 3/8/2025, 12:44 PM
@SirDuckAlot -

Disney know what they're doing.

Purposefully ruining franchises.
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 3/8/2025, 1:02 PM
@SirDuckAlot - In this alternate timeline Lucas never sold to Disney and ended up producing and story-writing (but not directing) three perfect sequels.
McMurdo
McMurdo - 3/8/2025, 1:09 PM
@Usernametaken - Mando season 3 ruined Mando as canon
Usernametaken
Usernametaken - 3/8/2025, 1:13 PM
@McMurdo - Agree to disagree, Mando season 3 might have damaged The Mandalorian series. But it didn't do any damage to Star Wars.
McMurdo
McMurdo - 3/8/2025, 1:18 PM
@Usernametaken - it certainly did if you consider Grogu was set up for a huge time jump into the future for a new set of films, new enemies, new everything with Grogu as the master Jedi. Now he's a Mandalorian lol. It also tarnished giving Luke one good thing to hang his hat on in regards to disney canon.
Usernametaken
Usernametaken - 3/8/2025, 1:28 PM
@McMurdo - hmmm so your opinion is not based on what it is but what you imagined and wanted it to become or what it could have brought to the Star Wars universe.

That's a really skewed take on this and you really lost me there.

The Mandalorian is just a spin off for me, I don't need those characters to become a bigger part of something else in the star wars universe. I know that we have a movie coming, but if we had a Season 4 that brought the series to its end and we never saw the character again, it would be fine by me.
KwisatzHaderach
KwisatzHaderach - 3/8/2025, 1:32 PM
@SirDuckAlot - Idk Mando was pretty great, even if they did drop the ball in season three, and then there’s Andor which is all the way up there
McMurdo
McMurdo - 3/8/2025, 1:37 PM
@Usernametaken - no it absolutely is based on what it WAS. Favreau pre season 2 finale said Grogu's story was coming to an end and we were going to focus on Mando solely at least for some time. The entire plan was for Grogu to be united with Luke to become a jedi. The usual suspects decided he was too popular a face to not be a primary character on the next season and so in a completely separate show they retconned the ending of season 2.

You lost me on not seeing this as a problem. But I respect your feelings on the others aspects of what you consider canon so that's okay, not busting your balls. But yes it hurt that series and it hurt the potential of that character moving forward, as eell as the futurescape of SW because now hes just a Mando gimmick rather than somebody who can train the jedi moving forward.
epc1122
epc1122 - 3/8/2025, 1:43 PM
@MakeAmericaGrea - yeah, they’re in the business of wanting to lose money. That makes a lot of sense to purposely ruining franchises 🤦🏻‍♂️
JacobsLadder
JacobsLadder - 3/8/2025, 2:20 PM
@SirDuckAlot - at all. I honestly believe that 10 of us from here could come up with a script better than anything Disney has put out.
JacobsLadder
JacobsLadder - 3/8/2025, 2:21 PM
@Usernametaken - I need to watch Andor I guess. I gave up after Kenobi. That was it for me. Or Boba Fett, whichever came last. total trash.
JacobsLadder
JacobsLadder - 3/8/2025, 2:22 PM
@Usernametaken - I wish. If I could wipe the last jedi from my brain I would.
grif
grif - 3/8/2025, 4:20 PM
@SirDuckAlot - probably?

Usernametaken
Usernametaken - 3/9/2025, 8:46 AM
@JacobsLadder - If you liked the OT and ROgue One, Andor is definitely worth a try.

Especially with the 2 episodes structure they written for the show. I wish Tony Gilroy and Beau Willimon oversaw the entire writing of the SW franchise, Andor has so many great characters and dialogues.
Usernametaken
Usernametaken - 3/9/2025, 8:48 AM
@JacobsLadder - at this point, I wiped out the entire sequel trilogy, I'll never watch those again. I thinks I saw EP7 twice, and 8 and 9 once. That was enough, I'll let those fade from my memory, like Terminator 3 or Xmen Last stand.
TGDestroyer
TGDestroyer - 3/10/2025, 7:22 AM
@JacobsLadder - It's good. The trailer for next season seemed a little..ambitious, there's no lightsabers, but it's good. Give Rogue One and the rebellion in general more context. I'm looking forward to the end as it's supposed to lead directly into the events of the film if I understood that correctly.
JacobsLadder
JacobsLadder - 3/8/2025, 12:23 PM
DAMMIT. Disney would've hated it and new bought Lucasfilm. DAMMIT to HELL!!!!
UncleHarm1
UncleHarm1 - 3/8/2025, 5:40 PM
@JacobsLadder - At least we got a 5 minute scene of Obiwan doing a drug deal next to a homeless clone trooper...

🥲
JacobsLadder
JacobsLadder - 3/9/2025, 12:56 PM
@UncleHarm1 - lol. who could forget that??
dracula
dracula - 3/8/2025, 12:25 PM
Should turn it into an animated series then
TGDestroyer
TGDestroyer - 3/10/2025, 7:24 AM
@dracula - An anime would be a great fit. Maybe in the vein of that one visions episode.
Humby
Humby - 3/8/2025, 12:26 PM
Even as a 12 year old kid, watching the BTS material on the Phantom Menace DVD, Rick McCallum always seemed like a bootlicking money grubbing yes man. He is the personification of the soulless Hollywood producer. His opinion on the creative side of filmmaking is totally worthless.
dagenspear
dagenspear - 3/8/2025, 9:58 PM
@Humby - What does that really harm in regards to this
HagridsHole1
HagridsHole1 - 3/8/2025, 12:27 PM
Shame this never happened.

Id take that over everything Disney have done. Aside from Rogue One, Andor and the first season of Mando
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 3/8/2025, 12:59 PM
@HagridsHole1 - You can keep Rogue One. Just leave me some of that Mando and Andor.
Urubrodi
Urubrodi - 3/8/2025, 4:26 PM
@ObserverIO - Rogue One is awesome man. I mean respect your opinion but couldn't disagree more on that.
Urubrodi
Urubrodi - 3/8/2025, 4:29 PM
@HagridsHole1 - Mando season 2 was as good as the first one. They did drop the ball with 3, but it's not awful.

Plus, might get hate for these but Ahsoka show was not bad, the Anakin and Thrawn stuff was great and... I like Solo, it's nowhere near the best Star Wars content but I was entertained.
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 3/9/2025, 4:39 AM
@Urubrodi - Aside from the final act I thought it was dull, slow, monotonous, poorly written and directed. I do agree on Mando S2 & 3 though.

Solo could have been special, but was mid AF. Release the Lord & Miller cut.
AnthonyVonGeek
AnthonyVonGeek - 3/8/2025, 12:38 PM
It’s always heartbreaking to hear about this show and the 1313 game. We were so close to being spoiled with quality entertainment.
Superspecialawesomeguy
Superspecialawesomeguy - 3/8/2025, 1:14 PM
@AnthonyVonGeek - That and the cancelled Darth Maul game would've been dope to see.



AnthonyVonGeek
AnthonyVonGeek - 3/8/2025, 3:22 PM
@Superspecialawesomeguy - damn that looked good
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 3/8/2025, 12:40 PM
Man , that does sound like it could have been cool but then I remember that Lucas wanted to make the Emperor as a more sympathetic figure in this by revealing how this female gangster broke his heart which idk if I liked thus I’m glad the show never happened…

https://venturebeat.com/games/that-cancelled-star-wars-live-action-show-inspired-the-new-god-of-war/

Also no studio or streaming service nowadays will have a show cost 40 million per episode much less back then so the ambition was appreciated but unrealistic.
1stDalek
1stDalek - 3/8/2025, 2:18 PM
@TheVisionary25 - it's such mind-boggling, misguided idea that it's crazy to think it survived to the end of the project. You get nothing from making such a horrible person even a little bit sympathetic.

Nowadays you could probably only get Amazon to fund it, they're spending more than that on the Rings of Power tv show. The ambition and exercise of writing the whole thing ahead of shooting was likely invaluable in making the writers better their craft, like the GoW guy in the article.
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 3/8/2025, 12:58 PM
The opening of Andor reminded me of the test footage for this show.
McMurdo
McMurdo - 3/8/2025, 1:10 PM
@ObserverIO - it did have that vibe
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