Director Dave Filoni grew up playing "Star Wars" in his yard with a large collection of movie toys, but he never imagined he would one day help create the series' first animated film, "Star Wars: The Clone Wars."
Filoni says that since he was a kid he has dreamt about the space adventures of characters such as Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi and working on the new "Stars Wars" with creator George Lucas was beyond anything he could have imagined, the Reuters reported.
But this new tale represents a shift in the stories that in six films, starting with 1977's "Star Wars," have raked in more than $4.3 billion at global box offices. It is expected to keep the "Star Wars" franchise flying into the future, and Filoni, 34, is the man with his hands on the spaceship's rudder.
For starters, "Clone Wars" is computer animated so actors such as Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan Kenobi) are not in the movie, and the film is meant to launch interest for an upcoming "Star Wars" television show on cable TV's TNT and Cartoon Network.
More important for fans, the story is not a repeat or sequel of any of the previous films that ended with 2005's "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith."
"It's part of the story we know, but it's been in the background until now," said Filoni.
"Star Wars: The Clone Wars," tells of the galaxy-changing events that took place between 2002's "Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones" and "Episode III - Revenge of the Sith."