People who grew up in the 80s will remember Willow, the 1988 dark fantasy film that achieved cult status thanks to home video and television screenings. Streaming service Disney+ is hoping to cash in on that nostalgia by greenlighting a sequel to the 1988 film.
Variety reports that a sequel set years after the events in the movie is going into production in the following year. The sequel will be a television series, with original director Ron Howard executive producing.
Crazy Rich Asians director Jon M. Chu will be directing the pilot and also executive producing. Warwick Davis will also be returning as the main character, Willow Ufgood. The new series’ showrunners are Wendy Mericle and Jonathan Kasdan.
Polygon notes that the new series is one of the few non-Star Wars projects being produced by Lucasfilm. Aside from being set a number of years after the film, Polygon also quotes a news release saying that all-new characters will also be introduced.
Howard also described the series as a “creative lean-forward” and would not be a “nostalgic throw-back” as some people would expect. Chu, for his part, said the film was a big inspiration to him growing up and that it was a bucket list moment for him to be working with Howard.
Willow joins a number of upcoming shows that are taking its cues from previous properties. Just recently, Tyra Banks revealed that she was working on remaking the 2000 film Coyote Ugly.
According to Banks, she was looking to either make a sequel to the movie or turning the film into a television series. In an interview on The Kelly Clarkson Show, Banks revealed that she was supposed to be on a call with people working to make the project a reality.
Another revival of a previous property that hit the headlines is the new Pretty Little Liars series, which was recently acquired by streaming service HBO Max. Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, the creator of Riverdale, will head the new show now titled Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin.
Set in the same universe as the original series but in a different location and two decades after the original series ending, Aguirre-Sacasa described Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin as “horror-tinged.”
Another rebooted show, Gossip Girl, has also been acquired by HBO Max.
While Willow will not start shooting until next year, it could possibly be yet another production shot in the midst of the global coronavirus pandemic. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s update for Oct. 20, the United States now has 8,188,585 confirmed COVID-19 cases. The number of people that have died from COVID-19 is now at 219,499.