"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, effectively sealing its fate 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 noted that the inability to bring this project to life over the years remains “one of the great disappointments of our lives.”

With 60 “third draft” scripts written that showcased 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 ultimate obstacle for this project. At 60 scripts times $40 million per episode, the total cost would have easily surpassed the $1 billion mark — a sum even George Lucas couldn’t muster 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 cancelled once Disney acquired Lucasfilm and Lucas stepped away from the helm.

While McCallum did not disclose specific plot details in this interview, fans have long speculated that the series would have explored the events between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. The producer had previously mentioned that the series would introduce a fresh 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 in 2005, and test footage from the series surfaced in 2020. Unfortunately, it seems that this may be the final chapter for this ambitious project.

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