George Lucas Recruits Writers for Live-Action 'Star Wars' Show
Filed under: Action, Animation, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, RumorMonger, Fandom, George Lucas, Remakes and Sequels
And no, you're probably not one of them. According to Entertainment Weekly, George Lucas is currently on the hunt for a number of writers to script 13 episodes of his planned live-action Star Wars TV series. EW claims to have heard from someone who's going with a girl who saw Ferris pass out at 31 flavors last night. Wait, actually, they heard that Lucas is heading to Los Angeles next week to meet with writers. They say (via one agent) that "Lucas' plan is to recruit several freelancers -- aka 'writers of real significance' -- to spend a week at the Skywalker Ranch in November to come up with story ideas for the series.The agent also said that Lucas has indicated a desire to hire writers from other countries. The scribes would then disperse and write the 13 episodes that would be produced and financed by Lucas."
Lucas is taking somewhat of a chance on both the animated and live-action series considering he doesn't have a deal in place with any network yet. He's already indicated that the animated series (which has completed roughly 40 episodes so far, and is set between Episodes II and III) is PG-13, and as such it would need to air on a network later at night. As far as the live-action show goes, I imagine it will also be PG-13; here's what Lucas had to say about it recently: "The live-action [series] is not the movie. It's the Star Wars universe, but it's characters from the saga who were [previously] minor, and it follows their stories. It's set between [movie episodes] III and IV, when the Empire has taken over." The one aspect of the live-action series that sort of bugs me is that there are no Jedis, since all of them (with the exception of Obi Wan and Yoda) were wiped out after Episode III. They will also mark the first time Lucas has gone live-action with his Star Wars universe outside the big screen world. Originally, he was looking to do 100 episodes of each (animated and live-action), but seeing as he's looking to commission only 13 episodes for the live action version, I'd imagine he's playing it safe just in case ... they bomb. There, I said it!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-14-2007 @ 2:10PM
stormko said...
Actually, Lucas has previously made some live-action Star Wars specials that aired in the 1980s.
Reply
10-14-2007 @ 2:11PM
Puff Chrissy said...
They will also mark the first time Lucas has gone live-action with his Star Wars universe outside the big screen world.
I envy the fact that you could forget the two made for television Ewok movies.
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10-14-2007 @ 2:25PM
Wayne said...
I'm sure that there are a few Jedi that the Empire hasn't found and killed yet. Darth Vader, after all, is supposed to hunt down and kill any remaining Jedi, is he not? I wouldn't be surprised to see a few rogue Jedi make appearances.
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10-14-2007 @ 2:30PM
Nicko said...
Assuming lucas won't be directing the live-action series, let's hope whoever does isn't afraid to acknowledge what was (fataly) wrong with episodes 1-3 and injects some personality and warmth into it.
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10-14-2007 @ 3:56PM
E. Jon said...
A Calm Belief in Rogue Jedi is a Beautiful and Haunting image. I’ve seen them and they have disguised their looks considerably for hiding. One portrait of their new image may hit the mark nearer than another, but none can hit it with any significant degree of exactness. At this time there is no earthly way of finding out precisely how the Rogue Jedi have changed their looks in hiding. The only mode in which you can derive even a tolerable idea of their present living conditions, is by hunting the Rogue Jedi yourself.
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10-14-2007 @ 10:30PM
Mr. R said...
Lucas declared to TV guide there would be Storm Troopers but no Jedi in this series http://www.tvguide.com/news/lucas-wars-TV/070920-01
Star Wars with no lightsabers? That sorta sucks...
He also mentioned that some characters previously not so important would have a lead, think Bobba Fett.
Isn't this what he should have done for the movies, along with different directors? Prequels sucked big time.
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10-15-2007 @ 1:04PM
Norm Schrager said...
Whatever happened to Lucas wanting to put Star Wars behind him (perhaps temporarily) and consider the more avant-garde efforts he'd always aspired to? I'm sure he has something that could combine the commercial aspects of, say, American Graffiti with the artistry of THX-1138. Holy crap, how often is he gonna milk -- or threaten to milk -- the Star Wars cow?
Norm S.
www.meetinthelobby.com
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10-15-2007 @ 2:23PM
King Zilch said...
"I'd imagine he's playing it safe just in case ... they bomb."
They won't bomb. People will bitch, and there will be cries of "doesn't he have enough money?" and accusations of raped childhoods, and people will obsess over one or two minor plot points, which they will misinterpret and repeatedly claim to be major plot holes. But they will watch, oh yes, they will watch.
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10-15-2007 @ 3:30PM
DOCWORMWOOD said...
They will also mark the first time Lucas has gone live-action with his Star Wars universe outside the big screen world.
FAIL!!!!
THE EWOK ADVENTURE.. IF YER GONNA WRITE STAR WARS ARTICLES... KNOW WTF YER TALKING ABOUT!
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10-15-2007 @ 7:22PM
mish said...
"They will also mark the first time Lucas has gone live-action with his Star Wars universe outside the big screen world.
FAIL!!!!
THE EWOK ADVENTURE.. IF YER GONNA WRITE STAR WARS ARTICLES... KNOW WTF YER TALKING ABOUT!"
And please don't forget the Star Wars Holiday Special - here's hoping they do a sequel.
http://starwarsholidayspecial.com/
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10-17-2007 @ 4:08AM
Great White Snark said...
I hope those writers don't mind working at well-below market rates, since Lucas and Co. still think that working on the Star Wars properties is a "privilege".
Some advice for those aspiring writers:
http://www.greatwhitesnark.com/2007/10/17/advice-for-aspiring-writers-of-the-star-wars-live-action-tv-show/
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