Disney+ greenlights WILLOW TV series

Disney+ and Lucasfilm have commissioned a season of television adventures for Willow Ufgood, the hero of the 1988 fantasy film Willow, produced by George Lucas and directed by Ron Howard.

The new series picks up thirty-odd years after the film, with Willow and his family having to face new challenges. Warwick Davis reprises his role as Willow from the film.

The 1988 movie saw Willow team up with a redoubtable swordsman, Madmartigan (Val Kilmer) and Sorsha (Joanne Whalley), the treacherous daughter of the evil Queen Bavmorda (Jean Marsh), to save a young child, Elora Danan, the prophecised future Empress of Tir Asleen. It's unclear if any other actors from the film will return, although revisiting Elora Danan as an adult seems a no-brainer for the plot. The film was a moderate box office success, but not enough to warrant a sequel at the time.

A trilogy of novels, the Chronicles of the Shadow War series, was published in the 1990s as a sequel of sorts to the film, written by X-Men writer Chris Claremont based on George Lucas's outline. The novel trilogy was controversial, as it killed off most of the film cast, renamed Willow and had very little to do with the film. It's assumed that the novels will be completely ignored by this new TV series.

The Willow TV series marks the first non-Star Wars project undertaken by Lucasfilm since its buy-out by Disney in 2013. The series will be co-written by Jonathan Kasdan (Solo) and Wendy Mericle (Arrow), who will also act as showrunners. Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians) will direct the first episode and produce. Ron Howard will produce.

It's expected that the show will shoot in Wales in 2021 for a 2022 debut.

WILLOW sequel TV series in development

In a surprising move, Disney and Lucasfilm have confirmed they are currently discussing producing a sequel the 1988 fantasy movie Willow for streaming service Disney+.

The original movie saw the diminutive title character, played by Warwick Davis, take custody of a young human baby upon whom the fate of the world depended. Willow teamed up with a group of heroes to safeguard the child and ensure the defeat of the evil villain, Queen Bavmorda (Jean Marsh). Val Kilmer, Joanne Whalley also starred, whilst George Lucas produced and came up with the story. Ron Howard directed.

The film was only a modest financial success but gained a greater following on home video, and has become regarded as a cult classic over the years, along with fellow 1980s fantasy movies Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal, Dragonslayer and Conan the Barbarian. Lucas planned a larger and more epic sequel at one time (essentially a Lord of the Rings to Willow's The Hobbit) but never fulfilled these plans. Instead, he developed a sequel novel series with X-Men writer Chris Claremont, under the title Chronicles of the Shadow War. Three books were published in this series between 1996 and 2000: Shadow Moon, Shadow Dawn and Shadow Star.

The new project came about after Ron Howard and Warwick Davis were reunited during the filming of Solo: A Star Wars Story. Davis discussed ideas for a sequel with Howard and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy. Solo co-writer Jon Kasdan was also intrigued by the idea of developing a sequel to the original movie. Kennedy didn't think there was mileage in a film continuation, but felt it might be a better fit as a TV series or mini-series at Disney+.

Although not formally greenlit, development of a script is continuing with Davis having already agreed to return in the title role. Val Kilmer has also expressed interest in returning.