Casting Has Begun on Live-Action Star Wars TV Series

Published by Jeff Leins on: March 9th, 2009

Casting is underway for the live-action Star Wars TV series George Lucas has been preparing for years.

The creator of the beloved science fiction franchise will continue to milk his favorite cash cow by putting out a show that bridges the gap between Episodes III and IV.  He has described it as “Deadwood” meets “The Sopranos” in space.  I guess he forgot to mention “meets Star Wars” followed by “muahahahaha.”

When the series finally airs (probably not until 2011), it will be a darker and grittier side of Star Wars, but will follow a family unseen in any of the feature films.  Cameos may be a possibility, but don’t expect Darth Vader to make an entrance on the small screen.  You know what this means… Jar Jar.

Everyone wants to see what happens after Episode VI, not the dead zone between two trilogies without any of the major characters.  Who am I kidding, this is George Lucas!  Of course we’ll see more Star Wars movies/TV shows after this!  Get the band back together!  KISS reunion!  Wait, which product whore are we talking about again?

The news comes from MTV, who attended a press event for Knowing.  Rose Byrne, who had a small part in Episode II, said a few of her friends have been auditioning for the show.  I’m sure Summit Entertainment loves that a junket for a science fiction movie out next week turned into a story about a completely unrelated project.

Last year, Lucas launched “The Clone Wars,” a cartoon TV series that recently aired its 20th episode on the Cartoon Network.  I never thought it would make it that far.  I owe a friend $20.

He has also considered re-re-releasing the Star Wars movies (all six now) in 3-D.  I don’t blame him.  Something has to keep that swimming pool full of gold coins.  Times are tough.