Rick McCallum, producer of the Star Wars prequels, recently revealed the staggering cost behind the cancelled Star Wars: Underworld series: a whopping $40 million per episode. This exorbitant budget, driven by the scale of each episode surpassing that of the films themselves, ultimately led to its demise. McCallum explained on the Young Indy Chronicles podcast that even with the technology available at the time, reducing costs below $40 million per episode proved impossible. He described the project's failure as "one of the great disappointments of our lives."
With 60 third-draft scripts already completed, showcasing a "sexy, violent, dark, challenging, complicated, and wonderful" Star Wars universe penned by top writers, the budget proved insurmountable. The estimated cost of $2.4 billion (60 scripts x $40 million/episode) was simply too much, even for George Lucas in the early 2000s. McCallum suggests that the series' ambitious scope would have drastically altered the Star Wars universe, potentially preventing Disney's later acquisition of the franchise. Disney's subsequent takeover and Lucas's departure effectively sealed the project's fate.
While McCallum remained tight-lipped on specific plot points, fan speculation centers on the series bridging the gap between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. Previous statements indicate a fresh cast of characters, significant expansion of the Star Wars universe, and a target audience of adults, a departure from the franchise's typical younger demographic.
First unveiled at Star Wars Celebration in 2005, and with test footage surfacing in 2020, Star Wars: Underworld remains a "what if" scenario. The ambitious vision, unfortunately, was ultimately stifled by its colossal budget.
