By: Dominic Jones
It's been said many times and it bears repeating often: there has never been a better time to be a Star Wars fan. Not only are there new movies coming out every year, but there is an animated series airing weekly, as well as countless novels and comic books every year (video games are in a bit of a rut, but we're still early into this new era). And now talks are ongoing about what the next animated series might be, according to Ben Sherwood, the president of the Disney/ABC Television Group. Sherwood spoke with The Hollywood Reporter this week regarding several issues affecting Disney television, and he addressed the topic of Star Wars on TV.
Is there a plan for a live-action Star Wars series?
The live-action Star Wars plan rests in the hands of [Walt Disney Studios chairman] Alan Horn, [Lucasfilm president] Kathy Kennedy and the great folks at Lucasfilm. Somewhere we hope in a galaxy not too far away there will be a television show that will air on one of our networks. But I wouldn't get anybody's hopes up too high. They have a lot of movies to make between now and then. We are deep into a very productive relationship with Lucasfilm making [Disney XD's] Star Wars Rebels. And we are in ongoing conversations with them on what is the next Star Wars animated show.
There have been rumblings about a new animated series for some time now, and they heated up a few weeks ago when animation writer Jennifer Muro revealed she was working on a new project for Lucasfilm. The question many fans may have is, how will this new series affect Star Wars Rebels, which is currently heading into its third season. While initial rumors about a new animated series suggested that Rebels would be going off the air, that doesn't necessarily need to happen. Sooner or later we'll see a situation with more than one Star Wars series on the air, and Disney may be happy enough with Rebels to see if it can work now.
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