George Lucas' Rejected 'Star Wars' Series Cost $40M per Episode; Disney Might Have Passed on Lucasfilm If It Saw the Light of Day

George Lucas' "Star Wars" producer Rick McCallum recently made an appearance on an episode of the "Young Indy Chronicles" podcast And joked about "Star Wars: Underworld," a highly anticipated TV show that was among Lucas' final endeavors with the Star Wars franchise before selling it to Disney in 2012 for $4.05 billion. This series was intended to take place between "Revenge of the Sith" and "A New Hope," serving as a link between the original Star Wars trilogy and the prequel trilogy, which McCallum helped produce.

McCallum mentioned that they had more than 60 second-draft scripts, stating that some of “the most brilliant writers globally” were invited to Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch to develop the series. He described these drafts as intense, erotic, and brutal stories that were wonderfully intricate, complex, and demanding.

McCallum refrained from sharing specific plot points for "Star Wars: Underworld," but he mentioned that the series "would have completely revolutionized the entire 'Star Wars' universe, and Disney likely wouldn’t have considered buying the franchise from George Lucas."

The producer stated that failing to produce "Underworld" still stands as "one of the greatest regrets of our lives." They further explained, "The challenge was that every season ended up being more expensive than the movies; thus, even at its most reduced scale back then, we were looking at a minimum budget of $40 million per episode."

The franchise essentially came to an end following Disney’s purchase of Lucasfilm and George Lucas stepping down from his role within the organization. When Disney took over, Kathleen Kennedy—who had been serving as co-chair alongside Lucas since 2012—was promoted to become the new head of Lucasfilm. Under her leadership, “Star Wars” expanded into television several years later through various shows like "The Mandalorian,” "The Book of Boba Fett,” "Andor," "Skeleton Crew," among others. Additionally, Kennedy oversaw a trio of follow-up movies including "The Force Awakens," "The Last Jedi," and "The Rise of Skywalker.”

Lucas said in an interview in 2020 It was described as "extremely difficult" for him to sell his company to Disney and relinquish control over the "Star Wars" series.

“At that point, I had just begun the subsequent trilogy; I interacted with the cast members and started preparing,” Lucas stated back then regarding his decision to sell Lucasfilm to Disney. “Additionally, my partner and I were expecting our child. Producing a trilogy requires around ten years – making Episodes I to III spanned from 1995 to 2005. That means I would potentially still be focused on Episode IX today. By 2012, I turned 69. The main query became: 'Do I wish to continue doing this indefinitely? Am I ready to undergo all of this once more?’ Ultimately, I concluded that I preferred spending quality time raising my daughter and enjoying some personal moments.”

Lucas considered keeping Lucasfilm out of the market and having someone else oversee the production of his proposed sequel trilogy, but he realized "that doesn’t count as retirement."

I dedicated 40 years of my life to 'Star Wars,' and letting go was incredibly painful," he said. "However, it was the correct decision. I believed I would have had more influence over the next trilogy since I had already begun working on it, but they chose to take things in another direction instead. Sometimes, outcomes aren’t as we wish; such is life.

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