You may remember that George Lucas had a Star Wars TV series project whuch was titled "Star Wars: Underworld". Well, now some test footage that Lucas had done years ago has surfaced online, bringing fans back to a different time of the Star Wars universe.
The video below includes one sequence of the test footage from the series, followed by a short behind-the-scenes look at how it was done. In this test footage, a mysterious figure clad in robes arrives on the streets of Coruscant to find plans for an Imperial Star Destroyer. Once she found the plans, she moves to a small weapons store, trying to buy a ship and avoid being followed. A group of stormtroopers nearby notice her ship and goes into the store where, after a brief conversation, a massive shootout ensues.
Though sounds and visuals all feel like slightly lower budget versions of what was at that time the Star Wars prequel films, the footage looks impressive, especially considering it was a test footage.
Actually Lucas originally announced the series in 2005 at that year’s Star Wars celebration, and he continued to work on the show with artists and writers on what it might be like. According to a George Lucas 2011 interview not less than 50 scripts were completed for the series at that time — and apparently none had ever been shot.
As for why LucasFilm didn't filmed the series, Lucas explained that the problem was always that these TV series always cost too much to produce, and said on G4’s Attack of the Show: “Right now, it looks like the Star Wars features. But we have to figure out a way to make it at about a tenth of the cost of the features, because it’s television”.
In the meantime, and although the first season of The Mandalorian was a huge success on Disney Plus, the Obi-Wan Kenobi series in-development has been put on hold so that the script can be reworked, and shooting will start in January 2021.
Also in the works for Disney Plus another series set to follow Rogue One’s Cassian Andor as he conducts espionage and missions on behalf of the Rebellion. With the idea of stolen Imperial plans at the center of this Star Wars: Underworld test footage, it could be a good idea for Disney + to have a look at Lucas scripts for this serie project. Sure, it looks a bit more of an adult series than The Mandalorian series with baby Yoda, but i'm pretty sure there would be an audience for that.
Pictures and video: copyright LucasFilm
