"Star Wars: Underworld Cancellation Due to High Costs"

I’m not gonna lie: this one stings. Star Wars prequels producer Rick McCallum recently revealed that the legendary cancelled series Star Wars: Underworld would’ve cost a whopping $40 million per episode to make — effectively dooming it to be axed for budget reasons.

In an insightful interview on the Young Indy Chronicles podcast, McCallum explained the financial challenges: “The problem was that each episode was bigger than the films. So the lowest I could get it down to with the tech that existed then was $40 million an episode.” He further expressed that the inability to successfully realize the project over the years remains “one of the great disappointments of our lives.”

With 60 “third draft” scripts written that showcased the Star Wars universe in “sexy, violent, dark, challenging, complicated, and wonderful” ways from “the most wonderful writers in the world,” it’s clear that the budget was the true killer in the crib for this project. At 60 scripts times $40 million per episode, the total cost would have soared well into the $1 billion mark — a figure that even George Lucas himself couldn’t scrounge up in the early 2000s.

“[It] would’ve blown up the whole Star Wars universe and Disney would’ve definitely never offered George to buy the franchise,” McCallum added. The series was ultimately axed once Disney took control of Lucasfilm and Lucas stepped aside.

Though McCallum did not confirm any plot details during this interview, fans have long speculated that the series would cover the events between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. The producer previously revealed that the series would feature a whole new cast of characters, greatly expanding the Star Wars universe, and was aimed at an adult audience rather than teens and children.

Star Wars: Underworld was first revealed at Star Wars Celebration back in 2005, and test footage from the series was leaked in 2020. Unfortunately, since then, there have been no further developments. It appears that the project may remain just a tantalizing "what if" in the vast Star Wars saga.