ST Was the live action TV Show an actual product, or a code to disguise work on the Sequels?

In the years between Episode III and the Disney Anouncement, most of the speculation of what would become of Star Wars next (at least in the live action world) was a TV series we were eventually told (along with the Video Game) would be "1313" and deal with the Seedy Underworld of Star Wars, and specifically the Criminal Networks of Courascant.

However, obviously at the same time they were working on this, they were secretly planning the sequel Trilogy. My question is, was "1313" ever planned to air, or was it a ruse to get people to work on the years worth of design work that goes into these movies. Everything from Charcter and location designs to animatics could be worked out under the guise of this production without anyone realizing they were actually prepping for a new trillogy.

Supposedly their are 50 one hour episodes scripted, but could these have also been (unbeknownst to the authors) audition scripts for who would be writing the sequels? Does anyone know if Michael Arnt submitted a script.

Another possibility is that Lucas's interest in going forward with the Sequels came about after his enjoyment on working on the Clone Wars, and a frusteration with being inable to actually make "1313" (for the price he wanted), so he decided to leave television behind for the cinemaplex again.

At the very least, I am sure there will be some cross pollenization of designs, but was it a huge Lucasfilm Black Ops plan, or a lost chapter of Star Wars design?

 

That idea completely falls apart when taken into account what we already know.

 

In what way? No Star Wars Screenplay (not even the first one) has been completed yet without extensive production design coming first. Artists hired and put on the payroll. Did these artists know they were working on Episode VII for months before the anouncement was made, or did they think they were designing for something else? Or did Arndt write it without production design?

 

Are you meaning "no Star Wars script"? What is pre-production going to do without a screenplay to go by?

 

Well the games were certainly being worked on, beyond the footage shown at E3 2012, we've seen so much unused concept art. It looked fgreat and it sucks it will never happen, but it certainly was going to happen.

 

I don't think so, because I heard the guy who wrote the "Curse of the Black Spot" episode of Doctor Who said he supposedly contributed a script for the proposed live-action series, so I think it was a thing at one time.

 

Have you seen any of the documentaries involved in the making of the Star Wars movies, or read any of the books on the subject matter?

They are building sets before they have scripts. Locations and creatures are designed long before the screenplay is finished, or in some cases they even have a first draft. Fight Sequences and Animatics are being drawn up before dialouge and even plot points are even decided.

Admittedly this is Atypical of how movies are normally made, but it has been the process of Star Wars up to this point.

 

I would imagine that it's quite possible that some of the 50 or so LAS scripts may have been re-purposed into a Clone Wars episode or two, who knows. Beyond on that, I believe the material will probably stay in the Lucasfilm vault for possible future mining. It's a shame both the show, and 1313, never came to fruition. Another one of those "what ifs."

In terms of the scripts being used as "auditions," that may be something we'll never know, but from what we know about who's currently involved with the ST and spin-off films, none were involved in the development of the LAS as far as I can tell. I remember coming across an article or two that listed a few of the writers involved; they were primarily TV show scriptwriters. I'll post a link if I ever come back across it.

 

I wouldn't put 1313 in the grave either.

 

Nah, I'd bet on it being simply a different direction that Lucas had in mind for Star Wars before circumstances changed and he decided to sell. A shame, though, as "Deadwood in space" featuring common man type characters sounded amazing to me. Sounded like they wanted to do more Star Wars while at the same time moving away from Star Wars as we know it.

 

Considering we know authors who delivered episode scripts, we know artists who did extensive concept art, and even Disney has said that the show could still happen at some point, I think it's safe to say that the tv show was its own thing. The problem was budget and distribution at the time. I would imagine that now, the larger problem is the more "adult" nature of the show and if that is something Disney wants to pursue.

 

Own thing.....but I've heard that Lucas met Arndt through the TV show.

From what I can decipher as well....concept arts for the TV show might be used for the Rebels series and/or the upcoming trilogy.

 

Everything is a conspiracy!

 

Other than "The Clone Wars" (animated series) I don't think it would be too wise to make TV shows of the Star Wars Universe. It would become a parody of itself. Sure people would watch it, but it would lose its luster and would be pretty hard to produce 13 shows per season. To me and many others, Star Wars is not a commodity that you can order like a pizza, it is more like a fine wine or a Strativarious Violin that sounds better with age. Movies like Ep I-VI are not something that just happen. To cheapen the event by making it a weekly occurance would cheat the fans. Remember , "The Caravan of Courage"

Code:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087225/combined

or better yet remember this turd nugget... "The Star Wars Holiday Special"

Code:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0193524/combined

.

 

There are more marvel movies than Star Wars, and you better bet I've got my DVR set for Agents of Shield, and that I'm pumped for Avengers 2.

 

It's really sad Star Wars 1313 is cancelled I want to play this game(as well as explore Coruscant underground cities)!!!

 

My guess is 1313 and Battlefront 3 were shelved more due to the next gen platforms coming out from Sony and XBox, than a Disney ****block of LFL projects.

I could be mistaken, but I remember hearing the plot of "Underworld" was going to be members of Black Sun, or some other organization during the ESB era, use a time travel device to kill Anakin as a child so that Vader doesn't exist. Thus, an "alternate universe" in SW where the Skywalkers do not exist. Thus all kinds of possibilities like a new Sith apprentice, and perhaps Order 66 wasn't successful and there were still Jedi operating in the galaxy?

Anyhow, I too was a bit relieved when this project was shelved. I was interested in the adult aspect story line, but the plot devices to get the narrative where it needed to be were troubling. I feared this TV plot was an extended Lucas riff on Ewok eye clicks and "NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!"

 

Not sure where you heard those crazy plot rumors, but from what I understand, none of that was due to occur in Underworld at all - in fact, it was said that the show would stay far away from anything having to do with the Skywalker story.

As for the games, Battlefront was cancelled before Disney came on board and 1313 had been reimagined several times. There had been a lot of problems with both games. Hopefully, 1313 will rise from the ashes in the way that Battlefront did, but from the sounds of things, the game was a bit of a mess in the state it was in.

 

I heard that rumor around Spring 2012.

Hell, there were details about shopping it to Showtime, and I'm pretty sure it was McCallum getting all lathered up talking about it as this "game changer" because of the time travel device. I may have even read that on a link from TF.N.

Yeah, the "Terminator" plot device was to ensure there were no Skywalkers in the series. Thus securing that the ROTJ cap remains on the saga proper. If that rumor was even true...

This info was effectively buried six feet deep when news of the Disney acquisition hit in October of that year.

http://www.slashfilm.com/tv-time-travel-change-entire-star-wars-mythos/

This site wasn't the sole source, it was viral for a time. They even acknowledge it was a rumor at that point. As I said in the previous posting, I AM GLAD WE DID NOT GET THIS TV SHOW.

 

I'm sure the TV show was real, but I guess it's possible that some of the conceptual work can be reused for Rebels or the spin-off films. The supposedly already written screenplays can be used for casting, or concept art for pitching ideas. Also, let's not forget that Rebels (and the possible Young Han Solo movie) will cover the same time period as Underworld would have.

Also, if Boba Fett stars one of the spin-offs, it will share the criminal underworld background as the live-action TV show.

So anything is possible.

 

I really don't think the LAS / Underworld was ever a code or a disguise for the ST. Many of the ideas from its scripts could pop up in Rebels (which is confirmed and will be shown on Disney XD) and at the same time, as others have said the LAS itself may not be completely dead. Hints pop up from time to time that Disney has had ABC execs talking with LFL about doing a live action show.

 

I would. Deader than the Republic Commando sequel.