Sometimes, in these peak TV days, there’s so much TV that you forget about TV news that made you super excited, find out it’s happening and get to be very excited all over again. That’s how I feel today about the news that pre-production has really started on the Disney+ sequel series to Willow.
Development of the Willow series as announced back in April with original Willow director Ron Howard on board to help, but among all the other Disney+ news, it faded somewhat. But now, thanks to a Twitter post from producer Jon Kasdan, we know the series is really happening!
The office is open. pic.twitter.com/wty5ENi3He
— Jon Kasdan (@JonKasdan) January 6, 2020
Willow is a curious movie. It was a fantasy epic made in a time before such movies were really popular or box office successes. Produced by George Lucas and released by MGM in 1988, it was a modest hit for the time, but it faded from memory for a while … except for nerds like you and me that loved the magic, mayhem, and Madmartigan of it all. Willow is actually the first movie I really remember seeing in theaters
The movie starred Warwick Davis, who had made an impression on LucasFilm and audiences as Wicket the Ewok in The Return of the Jedi, and the only big name in the cast was Val Kilmer (who was amazing). It followed Davis as Willow, an aspiring sorcerer and Nelwin (basically this world’s version of a hobbit) as he fought to protect the baby princess Elora Danan from an evil queen hell-bent on killing her. It’s a fun, weird movie and it only hinted at a much bigger world.
The series will allegedly follow the adventures of the grown-up Princess Elora Danan with appearances by an older Willow. Warwick Davis himself appeared to confirm his involvement in the show on Twitter, which had me a little bit emotional:
“Forget all you know, or think you know…” https://t.co/y71HzMcEBq
— Warwick Davis (@WarwickADavis) January 7, 2020
This is only early stages but there’s a lot I hope to see in this series. It’s been long enough that Madmartigan and Sorsha (Val Kilmer and Joanne Whaley) could have a grown-up kid, or kids, to join Elora and Willow in the adventure. And I don’t think it would be Willow without the hilarious antics of some Brownies. (Maybe by now they will have decided who is the leader).
This production is already shaping up as a LucasFilm family affair. Producer Jon Kasdan is the son of Lawrence Kasdan, a screenwriter and producer who worked on a few movies you may have heard of including a little sequel by the name of The Empire Strike Back. I’d love to see the family trends continue and get Bryce Dallas Howard in there. She’d be a great Elora Danan or she could direct, since she did just helm two episodes of The Mandalorian, also on Disney+.
Are you excited about the prospect of a Willow series?
(via CBR, image: LucasFilm)
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