Fragment of Star Wars: Underworld, a Would-be Star Wars Gangster Show
In 2005, George Lucas announced the creation of a gangster series Star Wars: Underworld, but the production finally did not make it to the screens. A short fragment allows you to see how it could have looked.
Today, everyone is talking about The Mandalorian, a hit from Disney+. It is the first episodic story from the universe of Star Wars in which we could see real actors. This does not mean that plans to create such an image have not appeared before. In 2005, George Lucas announced a project called Star Wars: Underworld, which never saw the light of day. Its test footage went online yesterday through YouTube's holonet channel.
The material allows you to take a look at a short fragment of the series and backstage preparations. In the video we can see a Rebel spy stealing the plans of a spacecraft belonging to the Empire (Star Destroyer), as well as the subsequent battle with Stormtroopers. The whole thing is shown in a dark atmosphere reminiscent of Blade Runner. It can be seen that the fragment was supposed to be used to check technical capabilities and possible production costs, therefore not all elements are on the highest level. George Lucas finally decided not to create the series because the budget of one episode exceeded tens of millions of dollars. Special effects were to be an important part of his work and he did not want to spare on them. The topic disappeared from radar when Lucasfilm was acquired by The Walt Disney Company in 2012. However, some of Lucas' ideas could have laid the foundations for new films from the universe.
The action of the show was to take place between the original trilogy and the story shown in episodes 1 - 3. The plot would focus primarily on the criminal underworld (bounty hunters, smugglers, etc.) of the planet Coruscant, but would also show the making of the Rebellion and the expansion of the newly created Galactic Empire.
Star Wars: Underworld was supposed to have as many as 100 episodes lasting between 40 and 60 minutes, and many stories were already ready on paper. The picture could present, among other things, acquisition of the plans of the Death Star and Han Solo winning his iconic ship - the Millennium Falcon. Eventually, both of these events lived to see their own films, though already under Disney's wings.
It is worth mentioning that the action game Star Wars 1313 met a similar fate as the series. Its main character was to be a bounty hunter operating on the eponymous level 1313, the criminal underground of the planet Coruscant.
