A former Lucasfilm producer says George Lucas' abandoned live-action Star Wars show would've cost $40 million an episode and "blown up" the franchise.

George Lucas’ “Star Wars” producer Rick McCallum recently appeared on an episode of the “Young Indy Chronicles” podcast and teased what would’ve been “Star Wars: Underworld,” an ambitious television series that was one of the last “Star Wars” projects Lucas was working on before he sold the franchise to Disney in 2012 for $4.

Underworld would’ve cost a whopping $40 million per episode to make — effectively dooming it to be axed for budget reasons.

Underworld has become the hottest “show that never was” to be rediscovered by social media platforms and franchise pundits. Thanks to new insights from one of Star Wars‘ most influential creators (producer Rick McCallum,

Lucas's nixed live-action 'Star Wars' TV show titled 'Star Wars: Underground' would have made Disney refuse Lucasfilm purchase if it had aired.

In a brand-new live interview, Andor showrunner Tony Gilroy discussed the pressure of creating Andor season 2, and there may have been shots fired.

"The problem was that each episode was bigger than the films, so the lowest I could get it down to with the tech that existed then was $40 million an episode." Star Wars: Underwor