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.

"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

On the "Young Indy Chronicles" podcast, the producer best associated with the prequel films called the aborted series "dark," "sexy," and "violent."

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,

Star Wars' best TV show is very similar to one of George Lucas' passion projects; even he never intended the franchise to be solely kid-friendly.

Many Star Wars fans know about George Lucas' cameo in Revenge of the Sith, but odds are they've never spotted his appearance in The Phantom Menace before now.

Star Wars wouldn't exist without the skill and imagination of George Lucas, but even he wasn't immune to making mistakes when he ran the franchise.