Director Jon M. Chu Departs From Disney+’s ‘Willow’ Series
by Erik Amaya
The fickleness of timing will prevent director Jon M. Chu from helming the pilot episode of Willow.
As Chu himself revealed Monday (via EW), the continued UK lockdowns related to the COVID-19 pandemic and the arrival of a child during the summer means he will not be able to take part in bringing Willow back to its fans. “As you may know, Willow has been one of my favorite movies since I was a child, so I’m devastated that I won’t be able to work with my heroes old and new,” he wrote in his Twitter update on the matter.
The series, to feature Warwick Davis as Willow Ufgood, Ellie Bamber, Cailee Spaeny, and Erin Kellyman, will center on an “unassuming kitchen maid who proves she is the ‘chosen one’ as she embarks on the journey.” Presumably, she and the others will quickly meet Willow and discover more about their magical world. Based on the film directed by Ron Howard, the series comes from Solo: A Star Wars Story‘s Jonathan Kasdan and Arrow‘s Wendy Mericle, who will serve as showrunners. Howard will also be credited as an executive producer. As is customary for pilot directors, Chu was also to be credited as an EP, but it remains to be seen if this will be the case going forward once the new pilot director is chosen. Although, considering Howard’s willingness to help out Lucasfilm, maybe he will come through and take the reins of the pilot.
According to EW, production on Willow is expected to begin later this year in Wales.
