In a move that is sure to leave many Star Wars lovers feeling withdrawals until the next trilogy in the saga hits theatres, Lucasfilm has announced that they are ending production of the Cartoon Network series Star Wars: Clone Wars.
The move comes after the recent acquisition of Lucasfilm by Disney, and subsequent announcement of three additional movies to take place where the original trilogy (known to some as the Holy Trilogy) left off. Additionally, the spoof series Star Wars: Detours by the Robot Chicken team is also being put on hold.
It is likely that after Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm a large amount of pressure was applied to give Star Wars a new image, distancing it from the brand dilution that has taken place as of late. For this reason, the prospects do not look good for those who were gearing up for the new crime-themed TV show Star Wars: Underworld or for the grim Star Wars 1313 video game that was in the works.
With a base viewership in the millions, there will be many people sad to see the Clone Wars T.V. show go. While it was not by any means a television phenomenon, Clone Wars received favorable reviews and was revered by many Star Wars lovers as a significant improvement on the dud that was the Star Wars: Clone Wars movie.
"The best is yet to come. We have some of the most exciting, most important story arcs still coming your way," notes Clone Wars supervising director Dave Filoni, "There are still some gaps in there. Things that are really crucial to the overall story arc of the Star Wars universe." He went on to promise, "They are the best episodes that my crew has committed to screen."
Though only touting these additional story arcs as bonus content for the time being, there is much speculation that perhaps there could be a couple animated movies in Clone Wars' future. For the time being Lucasfilm is keeping quiet about their future plans, though they did offer this delightfully mysterious statement:
"We are exploring a whole new Star Wars series set in a time period previously untouched in Star Wars films or television programming. You can expect more details in the months to come."
