Lucasfilm(LOS ANGELES) — The 1988 fantasy film Willow is getting the TV series treatment at Disney+, with Crazy Rich Asians director Jon M. Chu directing.

The Oscar-nominated movie, based on a story from Star Wars creator George Lucas, starred Warwick Davis as Willow Ufgood, a farmer who sets out on a mission to protect a prophecy-fulfilling baby from an evil queen.

Ron Howard, who directed the original film, returns as executive producer for the series alongside Chu and Bob Dolman, who wrote the original film’s screenplay and returns as a consulting producer. Davis also returns to star in the series.

“Growing up in the ’80s, Willow has had a profound effect on me,” Chu said in a press release. “The story of the bravest heroes in the least likely places allowed me, an Asian-American kid growing up in a Chinese restaurant looking to go to Hollywood, to believe in the power of our own will, determination and of course, inner magic.”

Chu, who directed Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In the Heights, added that getting to work with the likes of Kathleen Kennedy, president of Lucasfilm, and Howard is “bigger than a dream come true” and called it a “bucket-list moment.”

“[Showrunners] Jon Kasdan and Wendy Mericle have added such groundbreaking new characters and delightful surprises to this timeless story that I can’t wait for the world to come along on this epic journey with us,” Chu concluded.

Howard clarified that this series “isn’t a nostalgic throwback, it’s a creative lean-forward” while Kennedy added that it will take what fans know and love about the original film “into new and exciting directions.”

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By Carson Blackwelder
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