Before George Lucas sold Lucasfilm to Disney, he almost launched Star Wars' first live-action series on ABC.
Via Inverse, producer Ron Moore says this series was so violent and dark that “Disney definitely would have never offered to buy Lucasfilm” had it been launched. This series was called Star Wars: Underworld, and fans may have heard of it already. ABC canceled it in 2012 due to its massive $40 million per episode budget.
Ron Moore admits that ABC had no issues with the show's violent themes, but the budget was out of control. The technology at the time wasn't sophisticated enough to create what Lucas wanted for each episode without breaking the bank. Regardless, even if the costs for each episode were cut in half, it would never have been enough, as “The problem was, each episode was bigger than the films." To put that into perspective, a season of The Mandalorian, Star Wars' first live-action series, costs $120 million. That's $15 million an episode, compared to the $40 million it would've cost to make an episode of Star Wars: Underworld.
Regardless, Lucas's vision has always been groundbreaking, so it's no surprise he had big plans for bringing Star Wars to live-action television. If Star Wars: Underworld is picked up today, the Stagecraft technology should help reduce some of the production costs. Coincidentally, the series was set between the events of the prequel trilogy and the original trilogy. Andor Seasons 1 and 2 are also set during the same period, so Star Wars: Underworld could've covered the Galaxy's crime syndicate and events leading up to A New Hope.
It would be interesting to hear Moore's thoughts on whether Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Andor Seasons 1 and 2 would have been made if Star Wars: Underworld had been greenlit and to hear his opinion on the current slate of Star Wars live-action series. Moore revealed the series had a talented group of writers, with over 60 scripts ready. The last time he spoke about it was in 2021, when he told The Hollywood Reporter, “I got a tremendous amount of thrill writing lines for Darth Vader in one episode, and it would be fun to do that again.” Moore revealed he had more ideas for Star Wars stories, and it would be interesting to hear about them.
Perhaps it's not too late for Star Wars: Underworld if Lucasfilm gets in touch with Ron Moore and revives the project. There's nothing to lose, especially as so much of the work done on the series was overseen by George Lucas, and fans would love a show with Lucas's ideas at its core.
Ultimately, Jon Favreau had the honor of creating the first live-action Star Wars series, The Mandalorian, which premiered in 2019. Favreau and Filoni could always contact Ron Moore to discuss Underworld or another potential Star Wars series in the future.
The Mandalorian is streaming on Disney+.