Tony Gilroy, the showrunner of the acclaimed Star Wars spin-off Andor, has called for Disney to develop Star Wars projects in unexplored genres, such as sitcoms and horror movies.
Andor has drawn wide critical acclaim for its grounded take on George Lucas’s sci-fi universe, and is set to return next month for a second season.
Speaking to SFX magazine ahead of the new season, Gilroy said he hoped the success of the series would encourage Star Wars bosses to greenlight more experimental adaptations.
“I think we've made our lane with Andor, and [last year’s teen-focused series] Skeleton Crew was trying to do their own, too,” Gilroy said.
"The hope is that you can do anything, and we're going to open up some canonical things and concepts in Andor that maybe will get people excited to do other things.”
Gilroy said that he had “always fantasised” about Andor’s success opening up a new frontier for the Star Wars franchise.
"I always fantasised that the show would break new ground, that someone would be able to make a three-camera sitcom in Star Wars or a horror movie,” he said.
“I think the first thing I said to Kathy [Kennedy, Lucasfilm president] when she said they wanted to open a line, was, 'Could you do a courtroom drama?' And why not? We've worked really hard on Andor to make our lane, and it's up to other people now to find another way to do it."
Andor is set before the events of 2016’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and follows Cassien Andor (Diego Luna) as he joins the rebellion against the Empire. It is one of a number of streaming series set in the Star Wars universe, alongside series such as The Mandalorian, The Acolyte, and Ahsoka.
The second season of Andor begins to Disney+ on 22 April in the US and 23 April in the UK, starting with a three-episode premiere.
