It looks like we might be treated to a sequel series to Ron Howard’s highly-regarded 1980s fantasy movie Willow. The Lucasfilm movie, with a story from George Lucas himself and released in cinemas in 1988, starred Warwick Davis, Val Kilmer, Joanne Whalley, Jean Marsh, and Billy Barty. The film has achieved cult status in the decades since it was released, and now it seems that a sequel TV series may be winging its way to Disney’s new Disney + streaming service that launches later in the year.
The news comes from MTV’s Happy Sad Confused podcast who spoke with Ron Howard, who said that his Solo: A Star Wars Story co-write Jon Kasdan is in ‘serious discussions’ with the studio for a small-screen follow-on story.
“There are some really serious discussions going on with Jon Kasdan, who was one of the writers of Solo, who kept hounding me about Willow the whole time we were shooting and also hounding Kathy Kennedy,” Howard said.
“We’re in discussions about developing a ‘Willow’ television show for the Disney+. And I think it’d be a great way to go. In fact, George [Lucas] always talked about the possibility of a Willow series, and it’d be great and more intimate, and built around that character and some of the others. And Jon Kasdan has, I think, an inspired take on it and it could be really, really cool.”
That is really cool.
If you’re a little too young to remember, here’s a quick recap followed by its striking original trailer.
Willow: A reluctant dwarf must play a critical role in protecting a special baby from an evil queen. A baby girl is discovered in a river by Ranon and Mims, the children of Willow Ufgood, a dwarf farmer and magician and the baby girl is taken into the care of Willow’s family.
