Are you ready to return to the village of Nelwyn? Talk of a Willow project has been in the air for a while, but it was last year when Ron Howard teased a possible Disney+ series that the ball suddenly got rolling. Soon after, Jon Kasdan (Solo) came aboard to write it, and last thing we heard the pilot was already finished and ready to go. Well, now there’s a director and he’s someone quite familiar with adapting nostalgic properties: Jon M. Chu.
Disney has revealed that Jon M. Chu will direct the first episode of the Willow series. He will also exec-produce alongside showrunners Kasdan and Arrow‘s Wendy Mericle.
Chu is probably best-known for the hit film Crazy Rich Asians, but he directed other nostalgia properties such as GI Joe: Retaliation and Jem and the Holograms. He was also one of the driving forces behind the Step Up franchise.
Willow opened in 1988 and starred Warwick David as a farmer who discovers a baby, who proves to be key to saving their world. On his adventure with the child, he also encounters swordsman Madmartigan (Val Kilmer), with the two becoming reluctant heroes. The film was directed by Ron Howard based on a George Lucas story.
Davis, who has been a Lucasfilm staple for decades, will return as Willow Ufgood when the series enters production next year.
