The Skinny on the Star Wars TV Series

Everyone is wondering what the Star Wars TV series will entail. What is it going to be about? Who is the series following? Who will the main characters be? Unfortunately, the series is shrouded in mystery, with minor hints and details scattered all over the web. Names are being dropped like dimes, with one rumor having Edward Furlong attached as Darth Vader. George Lucas is a master of secrecy, with The Empire Strikes Back being his greatest achievement of all time. Of course, Mark Hamill never realized Darth Vader was his father until just before the time of the shoot. That's undeniable proof of how great George Lucas is at keeping a secret.

We know that much of the Star Wars television series will be filmed in Australia, reportedly around Sydney. We also know that George Lucas is tied into the production of the fourth installment of Indiana Jones. He will then set out to do another film, Red Tails, which is about African-American pilots in World War II, before he sets his sights on the television series itself. For the fans that cannot wait to see what he has planned, there is speculation that his animated Clone Wars series will be under way within the next year or so. The Clone Wars series was previously featured on the Cartoon Network as three minute shorts. The intent with the new Clone Wars series will be to turn the three minute shorts into half hour episodes. That should be enough to keep the fans satisfied, until the live action series will be released.

Right now, Lucas has intended the Star Wars live action series to consist of 100 episodes. He has made it clear that the series will follow events taking place between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. According to Rick McCallum, the producer, the series will be dark and feature many lesser known, but equally popular characters from the films. The main characters from the films, reportedly, will only make brief appearances during the series.

While many reports indicate that none of the actors from the films will be included in the series, there have been rumors that several would like to resume their characters on the series. Some of the actors that have been rumored to reprise their roles are Ian McDiarmid, Peter Mayhew, and Anthony Daniels. Some reports have mentioned Hayden Christiansen, however supposedly Hayden was not interested in acting anymore. Another name that was thrown into the mix was Edward Furlong, from Terminator 2 and American History X, as Darth Vader.

Another report says that George Lucas will be doing the writing and directing of the series. But again, that is only speculation. As of right now, the live action series is slated to start in 2008.

According to some of the reports, Lucas was forced to rewrite Revenge of the Sith to keep some of the characters alive for the upcoming series. One of the rewrites was actually included in the Revenge of the Sith DVD, as an extra deleted scene. The aforementioned scene featured Anakin and Obi Wan attempting and failing to rescue one of their Jedi comrades from the grasp of General Grievous. It was a great scene that clearly did not fit into Revenge of the Sith, the final product. So it will be interesting to see what comes of that.

Another popular rumor is that George Lucas would like to redo the Star Wars films in 3D. Supposedly, The Phantom Menace will be the first to be released in 3D. Only time will tell what George will do, so all we can do is sit back and wait.