Willow’s creators are debating making a new Willow movie after the Disney+ series

by James · December 2, 2022

Quite a few legacy quels have hit the Disney+ platform in the last couple of months. The TV program for 2022 has been particularly active in this field, as two fan-favorite franchises have been revived through limited series: The Santa Clauses and now Willow. While creators Jon Kasdan and Michelle Rejwan are proud of their place in the streaming series, it seems they have ambitions to bring this long-dormant world back to theaters.

That much was clear when I spoke with Kasdan and Rejwan during Disney+ (opens in a new tab) press day for Willows last series debut. At the time of our interview, they were fresh from a theatrical screening of the first couple of episodes that had taken place in London the night before. Jon Kasdan is riding high on that wave of joy and shared this vision for the future of Willow with CinemaBlend:

We are big advocates for [screening streaming series], and one thing we both fantasize about as the future of this whole business we’re in is maybe there’s the possibility that the train might go the other way a little bit. Sometimes these series can culminate in theatrical experiences that you need to see in a theater. I think Benioff and Weiss wanted that with Game of Thrones. I think there are many opportunities to do that. We would like to see it happen. I think Disney would too.

Fittingly, invoking the names of David Benioff and DB Weiss reminds me of when Game of Thrones held wildly popular IMAX screenings of the last two episodes of Season 4. Based on the comments above, Kasdan may suggest that Willow could get a similar treatment, with the final parts of this season hitting theaters at some point.

Of course, it is a reading on what we have seen above. Since it has been 34 years since Warwick Davis, Val Kilmer and Joanne Whalley defeated evil in the name of the infant Elora Danan, Willow loyalists have been waiting to see what comes next. On the back of an impressive trailer heralding the return of Davis’ Willow Ulfgoodthese feelings could not be stronger.

Should this new Disney+ series be popular enough, there’s definitely room for movies to bridge the seasons ahead, almost like the model once intended to bring Stephen King The Dark Tower for life, until JJ Abrams left the project. As the Willow cast is full of characters and actors that people will want to see more of, it won’t be too much of an impossible task to spin off a couple of epic one-off adventures.

While Michelle Rejwan and Jon Kasdan continued to explain what they want to see as Willow continues, both executive producers continued to build a case for another theatrical release. Ever grateful for the season of episodes they’ve been able to put together, Rejwan linked streaming and theater points as follows, and Kasdan shared his own perspective:

Michelle Rejwan: “There are so many cool new storytelling opportunities out there, so we feel really lucky to actually get to do this as a series. There’s just so many more creative opportunities it gave us over the eight chapters, and just amazing, endless imaginative ideas coming out of my friend Jon here that we got to do in just one season. So that’s pretty cool.”
Jon Kasdan: “But both of us, Michelle and I, come from the world of film. I’m counting the days Avatar coming out, I’m a fan of cineplex. Willow for me was a very formative film experience, because it was so big and so epic.”

Earlier this year we saw Disney use a theatrical re-release of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story to hype up the debut of Andor, by attaching footage of the show starring Diego Luna to the special screenings. With a crosswalk already in place between the theatrical and streaming worlds of Disney, who’s to say Willow Can’t jump to the big screen again?

In a universe where belief in magic can do great things, all it takes is the right person to lift a finger and the wonder can begin. As for you, dear readers, you can start your journey back to the world of Willow, as the first two episodes are currently streaming. But if you want to see these parts, as well as the original Ron Howard film, you’ll need the magic of one Disney+ subscription to give you passage.