The Willow series won’t get any more episodes beyond the eight in its first season on Disney+. The show, which picks up after the events of the eponymous film that came out over 30 years ago, received positive reviews—but apparently not enough viewers for Disney to invest in more episodes.
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According to Deadline, the move comes as Lucasfilm is reassessing its slate and when several streamers are feeling pressure to invest in projects that have a good chance of being profitable for the company. Co-showrunner Jonathan Kasdan said the first season got its bearings on Disney+ after a suggestion from Ron Howard, the director of the original 1988 Willow feature.
“‘This is how we’re going to get this going [as a series rather than a movie],’” Kasdan recalled Howard saying on the set of Solo: A Star Wars Story. “’You can just air it, and you won’t have to deliver an $80 million opening weekend.’”
That strategy might have gotten the first season made, but it appears that the cost-benefit analysis for the show still didn’t meet some internal threshold for Lucasfilm and Disney. Just because this series is over, however, doesn’t mean this is the last we’ll see in the Willow world, as the franchise is still a big one (not Star Wars big, but pretty big) for the production company.
The Willow series saw the return of Warick Davis as Willow Ufgood and introduced a slew of new characters played by Ellie Bamber, Ruby Cruz, Erin Kellyman, Amer Chadha-Patel, and Tony Revolori. Kasdan and Wendy Mericle served as co-showrunners, and the project was executive produced by Ron Howard, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy, and former Lucasfilm SVP Michelle Rejwan.
Willow’s eight and only episodes are now streaming on Disney+.
