In eight short years, Bob Iger’s acquisition of Lucasfilm for a hefty $4.05 billion price tag has already paid enormous dividends, from Disney’s five Star Wars films that earned an average of $1.18 billion each (even accounting for Solo: A Star Wars Story‘s underwhelming performance) to the opening of the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge sections of Disneyland and Disney’s Hollywood Studios to next year’s debut of the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser wholly-immersive resort experience.
The company’s streaming service Disney+ has also opened up a whole new world of storytelling possibilities in that galaxy far, far away. The Mandolorian became one of the most popular streaming series in the history of the medium, rocking the Internet with the unspoiled introduction of The Child, and the series is set to be followed by shows focusing on Rogue One‘s captain Cassian Andor and exiled Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Now, we’re hearing – from the same sources who told us Disney is developing a sequel to last year’s live-action remake of Aladdin as well as National Treasure 3, both of which have since been confirmed – that the company is looking to produce a young-adult streaming series based on Justina Ireland’s junior novel A Test of Courage, which is part of Project Luminous, an initiative that will present a single cohesive narrative taking place during the High Republic Era – which WGTC told you weeks before it was revealed. And while Lucasfilm has said that these novels won’t tie-in with any upcoming movies or TV shows, that doesn’t mean we won’t be getting straight-up adaptions of them. And that’s what this particular series will be, with the project said to be aimed at a young audience and star teens in the lead roles.
According to DisneyBooks, A Test of Courage will feature “a storyline set 200 years before the events of The Phantom Menace” in which “the Galactic Republic is at its height, protected by the Jedi Knights, guardians of peace and justice throughout the galaxy. When a transport ship is abruptly kicked out of hyperspace as part of a galaxy-wide disaster, newly-minted teen Jedi Vernestra Rwoh, a young Padawan, an audacious tech-kid, and the son of an ambassador are stranded on a jungle moon where they must work together to survive both the dangerous terrain and a hidden danger lurking in the shadows.”
Of course, the project won’t be Lucasfilm’s first live-action Star Wars story geared toward children outside the Skywalker Saga, with the made-for-television movie Caravan of Courage and its sequel, The Battle for Endor, airing in 1984 and 1985 respectively, neither of which are currently available on Disney+. The High Republic: A Test of Courage will be published by Disney–Lucasfilm Press on September 8th, and we’ll keep you up-to-date on the small-screen adaptation as we learn more about it.
