Disney+ streaming service recently confirmed persistent rumors with the announcement that a reboot TV series of George Lucas' cult fantasy movie Willow is in the works.
Jon M. Chu, best known for his work on Crazy Rich Asians, will direct the pilot, as well as serving as co-executive producer for the series. He talked about his history with the movie in a statement from Disney+.
"Growing up in the '80s, Willow has had a profound effect on me," he said. "The story of the bravest heroes in the least likely places allowed me, an Asian American kid growing up in a Chinese restaurant looking to go to Hollywood, to believe in the power of our own will, determination and of course, inner magic."
Familiar Faces On The Production Team
Many members of the original movie's creative team are returning for the Disney+ series. Joining Chu as executive producers are the original Willow director Ron Howard, with Bob Dolman, who wrote the original script, as consulting producer. Showrunner Jonathan Kasdan wrote the script for the pilot, and writer/producer Wendy Mericle, best known for her work on Arrow, will also be on the production team.
Returning to star in the role of Willow himself is Warwick Davis. Willow Ufgood is a farmer and a would-be sorcerer with a kind heart. In the movie, he and his wife adopt a baby girl who is found floating on the river in a raft made of grass – a baby girl who is prophesied to be the end of the evil Queen Bavmorda. The story revolves around Willow and his efforts to help the baby princess and defeat evil.
Warwick was enthusiastic about the reboot in an interview with Entertainment Tonight.
"So many fans have asked me over the years if Willow will make a return, and now I'm thrilled to tell them that he will indeed," Davis said in a statement. "Many have told me they grew up with Willow and that the film has influenced how they view heroism in our own world. If Willow Ufgood can represent the heroic potential in all of us, then he is a character I am extremely honored to reprise."
It Was All About Madmartigan
Willow didn't achieve the same kind of blockbuster success as Lucas' Star Wars, coming as it did just five years after the release of The Return Of The Jedi. However, in the decades since 1988, Willow has emerged as a cult fave in the fantasy genre.
The movie also starred Val Kilmer and Joanne Whalley, who later married. Kilmer played a swashbuckling mercenary and reluctant hero by the name of Madmartigan, and it turns out his character is what spurred the new series – albeit via a long process.
In a 2018 interview, Howard says that he first began to seriously consider a Willow reboot while he was working on Solo: A Star Wars Story. "I thought about that movie a lot as I was working on Solo because there are certain scenes, especially around some of the Madmartigan stuff, was reminiscent of a character with that kind of swagger and bravado," he said.
Old Favorites And New Characters
Despite the strong suit of returning creatives, however, Ron Howard insists that it won't simply be a retread of old ideas. He commented in a statement.
"This isn’t a nostalgic throw-back, it’s a creative lean-forward and it’s a blast to be a part of it all."
Without giving away the story, at the end of the 1988 movie, Willow gets help in his quest to become a sorcerer. According to the announcement by Disney+, the new series will take up his story "years after the events of the original Willow film. It will introduce all-new characters to the enchanted realm of fairy queens and two-headed Eborsisk monsters".
Ron Howard elaborated in an interview with Den of Geek.
"Well, when I say future thinking, I’m talking more about the sensibility because it picks up a couple of decades later,” Howard says. “It’s very much grounded in the history, Tir Asleen, and all of that.”
Fans of the movie will enjoy seeing the same landscapes in the new series, which is set to begin shooting in Wales, where the original Willow was filmed, in 2021.
