That original Star Wars live action show was supposed to revolve around the whole "Star Wars 1313" concept, which was going to be set in the underworld of Coruscant and may have involved a young Boba Fett. That was the one that Rick McCallum was working on, but from a budget standpoint they just could not make it work. Granted, that was over 10 years ago. And production values for TV series have advanced dramatically, and movie quality production in prime time cable and TV series are much more feasible now.
As for this new television series? I've suspected that a new TV series was in the works ever since the announcement came that REBELS would be ending. And there seemed to be rumblings that another animated TV series might be in development following the end of REBELS, with a new series set in the 30 some odd years between the Battle of Endor and the events of THE FORCE AWAKENS.
Interestingly, as REBELS begins its final season I have seen a good deal of praise directed towards showrunner Dave Filoni, with a lot of people recognizing his very close working relationship with George Lucas during the production of CLONE WARS. Now I'm seeing people talking about the possibility of Filoni being a creative force behind this new series. I do see the potential challenges of someone making the leap from animation to live action. But I've also seen a great deal of positive feedback from the actors who have worked on REBELS and CLONE WARS about their experiences working with Dave Filoni, and his penchant for strong storytelling, along with his knowledge base in Star Wars.
And then there's the matter of HOW do they pull off a tv series. I think a shorter run, like we see on cable and streaming services is the way to go. A 10 or 12 episode run per season works if you're going for an hour long show. Considering the fact that Disney will be looking at this show as a centerpiece of their new streaming service? They need to deliver a good show. I am a little annoyed that this wouldn't be on one of the bigger streaming service like Netflix, Amazon or Hulu. But then Bob Iger did say quite deliberately that Disney was going to price their platform so that it would be cheaper than Netflix. And with Star Wars and Marvel content as centerpieces of the platform? I might have good reason to sign up.
So what ground would the story cover? That seems to be the big question. Does it cover the Dark Times between ROTS and ANH? What about the period between ROTJ and TFA, where the fight between the Rebellion and the Empire was going to draw to an end? Some people seem to want such a series to go back in time to the era of KOTOR. The questions seem endless at this point
I'd normally have agreed on that and the thought crossed my mind, but that was all Lucas and his unending dreaming. Much like teased video games from a dying entity, it became just talk. This though is Disney, and Iger specifically, and so far they've not given the lip service or just been dreaming out loud.
Lucas always had his logistical issues with it and other excuses. To my mind this is a whole new ball of wax being that it is now Disney saying this is a thing and is happening in conjunction with their streaming service. Short of that falling through, of course.
I feel like this is a much more concrete thing than Lucas was trying for. I'm just curious if it's going to be at all related to what he wanted to do or not.
When George was still in the mix, it was all still his company. And he had to look at the organization challenges, the financial end as well as the creative direction of EVERYTHING. I would venture a guess that he may have been overwhelmed by it all. I think the current company structure lets someone like Bob Iger focus on the big picture and corporate issues. Kathleen Kennedy can focus more on the creative direction.
As for the financial end? I think Disney gives Star Wars even more financial security in pursuing projects like this. There are simply more revenue streams. Disney has opened up licensing options to bring in more money. And having just spent a week at a Disney park? They are absolutely making the most of Star Wars on those properties, too. That kind of revenue stream just was not there for Star Wars before. But in the Disney era, it's a big draw. I saw countless people with Star Wars t-shirts in the parks. Continuing to create new Star Wars content will keep bringing fans to the table for Disney.