Various Star Wars movies, games and TV shows have been canceled over the years.
The Force was not strong with these…
TheStar Warsuniverse is a dangerous place.
Until the Disney buy-out, the world created by George Lucas was just as treacherous for seemingly-exciting projects.
But when did the term countless ever stop us from trying to count things?
Never, thats when.
We havent covered canceledStar Warsbooks and comics here, simply because there are too many to count.
Forgive us, yo.
Its a nine-part saga that has a beginning, a middle and an end, said Lucas in 1980.
Key themes would have been distinguishing right and wrong, as well as passing on your knowledge.
said Lucas in 2002.
Indeed, it seems Lucas has been fairly separate from the creative process in his role as a consultant.
I mostly say you cant do this.
you’ve got the option to do that,' hetoldBloomberg Businessweek.
You know, The cars dont have wheels.
They fly with antigravity.
Theres a million little pieces.
I know all that stuff.
When the smoke cleared, I said, This is really great.
Ill do another trilogy that takes place after this [the original trilogy].
I had three trilogies of nine films, and then another couple of odd films.
Essentially, there were twelve films, Lucas added, slightly confusingly.
At the time, the idea didnt seem to float, though.
As soon as 1981, it seems Lucas had stopped referring to the droid-heavy movie in his interviews.
Chances of resurrection?Very slim.
Although not feature length or cinema-standard, this series is probably as close as we will get.
Droids in Distress, an episode fromStarWars Rebels, is a decent substitute too.
What was it?As above, Lucas was tentatively planning a Wookiee-centric movie in the year 1980.
So, for a time, I had a couple of odd movies with just those characters.
Plot-wise, the world of Wookiees opens up many possibilities in the widerStar Warsuniverse.
What happened?Again, the idea simply stopped being mentioned.
To our decades-later speculation-heavy minds, this seems to suggest a studio bigwig shut the idea down quickly.
Chances of resurrection?Nil, but did the ideas here become the infamousHoliday Special, we wonder?
If not, perhaps some recycled concepts ended up in 1985sEwoksTV series.
Well never know, but theres a chance the cinema-going public might have dodged a bullet here.
Fans also got to enjoy some podracing-style 3D glasses.
They had, er, fun.
What happened?The production ofThe Force Awakenshappened, in this case.
But Boba Fett has mystique by the sandcrawler-load, and thats all that counts.
The problem was that Mr. Trank was deep into post-production and last minute edits onthe deeply troubledFantastic Fourproduction.
While the words Boba Fett never appeared in that statement, that was definitely what was in the cards.
After a bit of hanging around awaiting technological advancements,50 episodes were scripted.
He described the show as complex, dark and adult.Life on Mars Matthew Graham worked on the show too.
What happened?This one, seemingly, got a little lost in the Disney acquisition.
Disney/Lucasfilm had been presenting some of theirStar Warsbased work, with one project standing out like a sore thumb.
Spring/Summer 2014 was meant to house, it would seem, some Darth Vader-based TV specials.
Whether these would have been live action remains a mystery, since the project never came to fruition.
What happened?Save for this one burst of information, we never heard about the project again.
Chances of resurrection?Darth Vader has gone on to appear inRogue Oneand the second season ofRebels.
Hes also had a great comic book run at Marvel these past few years.
Chances are that Disney doesnt really need these specials at the moment.
39 episodes are completed, with 62 scripted.
Seth Greenremains positive about it.
The end goal is taking down an Imperial Base, weve learned.
Up there is clip from the game which has emerged online.
Around the mid-90s is the best guess for a release date.
What happened?This project faded into obscurity, with very little mention of it found online.
Chances of resurrection?No chance, lance.
Both teams were combined later, withProteusbecoming the focus.
We wouldnt rule out an attempted console effort MMO at some point in the future, though.
Returns for the original games Delta Squad were rumoured, but not confirmed.
The game only got as far as a few concept paintings before being binned, it would seem.
Facts are particularly sparse on this one.
The story forKotOR IIIwas written, environments made and characters were well into development.
Lightsaber-wielding female Naresha was a confirmed character, although little else was revealed.
(We wrote more wild speculation aboutKotOR IIIhere).
This one only reached concept art stage, some of which would later be incorporated intoThe Force Unleashed.
What happened?Around 2006, the project was dumped like dodgy cargo.
The title later appeared as one of LucasArts20 cancelled projectsrevealed in the bookRogue Leaders: The Story Of LucasArts.
Blend that cross-platform concept with an engaging narrative and you could well be onto something.
We wouldnt rule out gaming tie-ins to future TV shows, either.
The game was apparently aiming for a mature rating so they could delve into some darker themes.
Of all the games on this list, this one might just be the saddest loss.
Theories circulating the web suggested thatFirst Assaultmight be aBattlefront-esque game featuring micotransactions and appearing on the Xbox downloadable arcade.
Of course, we will probably never know either way.
What happened?May 2014 marked the end of this one, after four months of beta testing.
The desire to focus on otherStar Warsgaming experiences was cited as a typically vague reason.
Chances of resurrection?Not in this form recovering from a cancellation so deep into production is fairly unlikely.
Space battles will forever be an element ofStar Warsvideogames, though.
A focus on moisture farming, perhaps?
What happened?This one disappeared post-Disney with all the other failed LucasArts projects.
What was it?This 1998 project from LucasArts was set to enter some mostly uncharted territory.
AStar Warsspy game, with C-3P0 as the lead, focused on the time immediately after the original trilogy.
LucasArts were potentially planning to mix real actors and blue-screen technology on this one.
Chances of resurrection?Um, dont count on it, folks.
What happened?A management change at LucasArts resulted in the 2003Rogue Squadronrevamp falling out of favour.
We imagine they might have kicked themselves for that later.
Thats purely guess-work, though.
What was it?Heres one that, had it been done right, could have cashed-in big time.
Robomodo, the company how were working on the game, had worked onMortal Kombattitles before, though.
Chances of resurrection?Wed be amazed if aStar Warsfighting game never saw the light of day.
Wed expect Disney to enlist the post-rebootMortal KombatandInjusticedevelopers NeatherRealm if they ever did push ahead with such a project.
In the meantime, theres alwaysMasters of Teras Kasifor the PS1.
There was a one-on-one dual mode inRevenge of the Sithfor PS2 if we remember correctly, as well.
Tough, because the gameStar Wars: Death Starwent and got cancelled.
Chances of resurrection?Not in this solar system.
Or was this a precursor to the project which eventually becameStar Wars 1313?
The above image from a particularly shady corner ofKotOR,would almost definitely not have featured.
And was this the potential tie-in game?
Well never know how far this game got into development, but its an interesting one to consider.
What happened?Again, we dont know the details on this one.
However, they probably wont resemble whatever LucasArts were plotting pre-2008 very closely.
What was it?Jedi Knightwas a much-loved series of games (with live action cutscenes!)
The last entry in theJedi Knightsaga was 2004sStar Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy.
However, there was a time when the series wouldnt have ended there.
Equally though, they might decide to push out into entirely new directions instead.
They responded with terms like derivative and gratuitous, and the game was condemned.
We expect darker corners ofStar Warsto be explored in gaming one day, though.
The between-the-trilogies gap has been plugged considerably byThe Force Unleashedgames and theStar Wars Rebelstelly show, though.
What was it?Heres another.
With a title likeRogue Jedi, what can we guess about this game?
That, or perhaps a time in the Expanded Universe where Jedi were just as persecuted.
Of course, we will probably never know.
What was it?Star Wars: Vader, now who could have been the focus of that?
But what would the actual concept have been?
Its more interesting to consider where else we could fit a Vader game in the chronology of the films.
Did he ever attempt to break out from Palpatines control?
Was he going off on secret missions of his own?
Did he ever walk around with his helmet off just to scare people?
It seems well never know.
Chances of resurrection?Its a long shot, but not entirely out of the question.
If Disney received a perfect pitch for a standalone Vader outing, we doubt theyd completely ignore it.
See the first level ofThe Force Unleashedif you need some Vader action sooner.
(Yes, our choice of picture is completely unrelated.)
What happened?This one was ditched pre-2008 with those other 19 projects we keep mentioning.
The 500-years-later setting was deemed unappealing to the averageStar Warsfan, weve heard.
A quick Google search reveals that a Jedi Hunter emblazoned PS2 controllerwas released in 2005.
Were you meant to play a Jedi hunting other Jedi then?
Or a character akin to the Inquisitor fromStar Wars Rebels?
The packaging (we know were pushing it here…) included a picture of Darth Vaders helmet.
Could that suggest he was intended as a key character?
We preferGames Radars ideafor a first-person-shooter spin-off forKotORs meat-bag-hating assassin droid HK-47, though.
What happened?This one disappeared with the other 19 pre-2008 projects.
That nifty controller is still available though.
From that product-based super-analysis though, we reckon plot elements might have been carried intoThe Force Unleashed.
What was it?Prior to 2008, LucasArts were plotting a Han Solo game.
Thats all we know for a fact.
Theres plenty of stories from Hans Expanded Universe biography that could have made for excellent games.
Or his years in the Imperial Academy.
Or his first encounter with Chewie.
Or unspecified smuggler adventures.
Or his life after the original saga.
Or just hours of playing cards with Lando.
The possibilities are endless.
Could this be a Han Solo adventure?
Well be sure to shout about it as soon as we hear anything.
Either way, theres several directions you could take the concept of not-very-nice Jedi.
What happened?Dark Jediwas binned, like so many, before we even got to know it.
Do you fancy being a part of the rebel alliance and a traitor?
Maybe something involving a rebel revenge rampage?
Maybe the sheer scale of launching so many (potentially) interlinked titles turned some higher-ups off?
If we ever interview anyone who used to work at LucasArts, well be sure to ask.
What was it?Ragtag starred a scoundrel named Dodger, a cracked mirror version of Han Solo.
The game would have also tackled the impact of Alderaans destruction.
Ragtag would have featured a multiplayer mode focused on space combat.
Ultimately, the multiplayer mode was scrapped due to lack of resources and manpower.
What happened?The game started out as an open-world space adventure starring a Han Solo-like rogue.
In this first iteration, the project was called Yuma.
Under Hennigs leadership, the project became Uncharted in space.
Just before the games cancellation, the studio produced three different demos of Ragtag to show EAs executives.
It was after seeing these snippets of the game that EA decided to cancel the project.
Chances of resurrection?This project is dead.
This new game will be open-world.
