Jon Favreau Wants to Make a New Star Wars Holiday Special

The Star Wars franchise is beloved among fans across the world. With multiple films, animated series, novels, comic books, video games, board games, collectibles, and action figures released over the last 40 years, there is a lot to love when it comes to the galaxy far, far away. But while one particular TV special lives on in infamy among fans, there are some who hold it in high esteem; we’re talking, of course, about the Star Wars Holiday Special. And if The Mandalorian showrunner Jon Favreau had his way, he’d get the chance to remake it.

While speaking with Entertainment Tonight at the Saturn Awards this weekend, Favreau explained that he wants Disney+ to let him tackle that oft maligned entry in the Star Wars franchise.

“I would love to do someday, maybe on Disney+, we’ll do a Holiday Special too. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?” Favreau said. “I gotta pitch that to them. We’ll see. If you wanna see a Holiday Special, let Disney+ know!”

The showrunner of Star Wars: The Mandalorian is emerging as one of the premiere voices in the franchise, especially as it expands to live-action series for the first time in history. As he partners with animation guru Dave Filoni to bring The Mandalorian to life and increases his profile with Disney, it seems like Favreau might have the best chance of making it happen.

But Lucasfilm is notorious in their treatment of the Star Wars Holiday Special, and it seems like that’s a chapter they want to put behind them. Even Solo: A Star Wars Story co-writer Jon Kasdan admitted that he tried to sneak some callbacks in his film, but they were all cut out.

“Did several versions of this. I like references to the Holiday Special & tried (& failed) to get more in,” Kasdan wrote on Twitter. “One of the frustrating things about making a [Star Wars movie] is that you don’t get to preview for a full audience like other movies & don’t get to test jokes the way you’d like.”

A lot of Star Wars content is coming to Disney+ when it launches later this year, though it’s not clear if the original Holiday Special will be available on the streaming service. But if it is, there’s hope for a revival of the concept done for a new generation of fans.

Star Wars: The Mandalorian premieres on Disney+ on November 12th.