While working on Solo, director Ron Howard revealed that he was starting to have some discussions with Lucasfilm about bringing back another of the studio’s properties: the 1980s fantasy cult classic, Willow. Now, the star of that film, Warwick Davis, has revealed that he, too, was in on the conversations, and it sounds like Willow really could be making a comeback.
In a recent interview with Cinema Blend, Davis discussed the possibility of returning to his most famous role for a Willow sequel. “That would be hugely exciting… revisiting Willow as a character, now he’s older and wiser and perhaps even a better sorcerer, who knows by now, would be brilliant fun. I would absolutely love to do that,” Davis said. “Ron [Howard] and I we chatted about Willow quite a lot. Jon Kasdan, who was obviously the screenwriter on Solo, he’s a pretty big fan of Willow, it’s one of the reasons he got into screenwriting and filmmaking. He and I talked a lot about where we could take Willow in the future.”
Davis then went on to reveal that he had further discussions about a potential Willow sequel on the set of Solo; discussions that included not only Howard and Kasdan, but also Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy and even Willow creator George Lucas. “I remember a particular day which was very special on Solo. I was working with the second unit and Ron, and I got a message through saying, ‘Oh, George [Lucas] is here today, he’d like to see you,'” Davis revealed. “So I went on set, it was the day they were on the Falcon. I remember myself, George, Jon Kasdan, and Kathy Kennedy all chatting about Willow. I would think, ‘This is like the stars have aligned right here. If anybody’s going to get a sequel or something else made in regard to Willow, this is it and this is the time to do it.’ Who knows, kind of watch this space, I guess.”
So for those keeping track, it sounds like there’s interest in a Willow sequel from the original director (Howard), original star (Davis), the head of the studio which holds the film’s rights (Kennedy), said studio’s hottest screenwriter (Kasdan), and it even appears to have the blessing of the man who created the property (Lucas). In all honesty, it really sounds like this film could get made, so go ahead and give it the green light already, Lucasfilm!
