Wales is the frontrunner as the film location for a TV series based on the hit 1980s fantasy film Willow.
It is understood the production company behind the new series is looking at potential locations across Wales.
While the project has not officially been greenlit a script for the pilot episode has been written. The series would be made for the Disney Plus channel through Lucasfilm, which it acquired in 2012.
The Welsh Government has developed strong ties with Lucasfilm through its Pembrokeshire-born executive vice-president Lynwen Brennan. Film and TV is a key sector in the Welsh Government's new international strategy.
The 1988 film fantasy starred Warwick Davis as Willow, along with Val Kilmer and Joanne Whalley was filmed in Wales.
The story was conceived by the Star Wars creator George Lucas and the film was directed by Ron Howard.
Lucasfilm and Ron Howard will be involved in bringing the new series to the screen, which is expected to follow on from the movie, but set many years after the events in the film.
The decision to film the Willow series in Wales would be the latest coup for its fast-growing TV and film production sector.
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The Welsh Government was asked if was seeking to bring the Willow series to Wales, but declined to comment.
However, it has a track record of putting support packages together to help bring major productions to Wales.
If Wales is to land a number concurrent big budget productions, one of the challenges will be creating the conditions whereby as much of the spend is secured by indigenous firms, from production to catering, as possible.
The possibility of a Willow TV series was first mooted by Lucas and Davis in 2005. Then in 2018, while promoting Solo: A Star Wars Story, Ron Howard announced there were talks, and last year he confirmed the show would be filmed for Disney+.
Howard, on MTV's Happy Sad Confused podcast, : "Warwick would be in it, of course. We couldn't do Willow without Warwick Davis. Warwick is so cool, and so good, he's just such a good actor. I just really hope we get a chance to see the mature Willow in action."
And on a Facebook Live Howard answered a question from the about whether the series would be shot in Wales.
Howard said: "We are far enough along that in a very tentative way, locations are beginning to be scouted, and we don't know where we're going to shoot, but we have gotten some research photos back from Wales."
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The series is being written by the Solo: A Star Wars Story screenwriter Jonathan Kasdan, who is the son of Lawrence Kasdan, the co-writer of the Star Wars films The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.
It is unknown how involved Ms Brennan is in the development of the series, but she oversees all businesses, including Lucasfilm, industrial light and magic, and Skywalker Sound. She is responsible for the development and execution of Lucasfilm’s business strategy and implementation of the company vision.
The Willow production is one of a number of Disney+ original series that are adaptations and spin-offs of films from its stable.
The second series of The Mandalorian is starting on the Disney channel next month, and is to be joined by two more series set in the Star Wars universe, one based on the Rogue One character Cassian Andor, and another that will see Ewan McGregor reprise his one of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
The 1988 Willow film followed the journey of dwarf Willow Ufgood (Davis) as he is tasked with protecting a baby named Elora Danan from an evil queen (Jean Marsh). A prophecy has fortold Elora will bring the queen’s downfall. Val Kilmer played the mercenary swordsman Madmartigan, and Joanne Whalley was the daughter of the Queen who turns on her mother.
The film used locations in New Zealand, USA, England and Wales. With the Queen's fortress of Nockmaar Castle being shot in Dinorwig Quarry.
At the start of the year : "I’d certainly relish the opportunity to play a character that I really enjoyed playing the first time around.
“I’m a bit older and a bit wiser as an actor now, and the character would also be a bit older and wiser and I think there’s really an interesting story there. What has happened between the time we saw him in ‘Willow’ and now? Has he mastered the art of sorcery? What has happened there?"
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In the mid-90s George Lucas and writer Chris Claremont wrote a trilogy of novels set years after the film and focussed on a grown up Elora Danan. However, it is not known if these films will be linked to the new series.
Key sector for Wales
The creative industries is one of Wales' fastest growing sectors, according to the Welsh Government, with a reported annual turnover of more than £2bn. It employs more than 58,000 people, which is 52% more than 10 years ago.
A new government body, Creative Wales, was set up at the start of the year to continue the growth of the nation as a location for TV and film productions.
When the Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism, Lord Elis-Thomas launched Creative Wales he said he wanted to take the existing successes in the screen industry and build on them to drive growth across the whole creative sector and position Wales as the place to locate a creative business.
The Cardiff-based production company Bad Wolf was the fastest growing firm in Wales in 2019.
Bad Wolf, which operates out of a huge studio facility in Cardiff Bay, topped last year's Wales Fast Growth 50 initiative, which ranks the fastest-expanding indigenous businesses in Wales. The company achieved a growth rate of 2668% from 2016-18, with revenues rising from £1.8m to £50.3m.
Bad Wolf has been instrumental in seeing Wales has establish itself as a heavy hitter in the industry with His Dark Materials, a collaboration between the production company, HBO, and the BBC.
The second series of His Dark Materials will be on TV towards the end of the year, with filming of the third series expected to start at Wolf Studios in spring.
Bad Wolf is also behind the Sky One show A Discovery of Witches, with the second series of the fantasy drama scheduled for broadcast this year, and the third series in production.
Both the Netflix series Sex Education and BBC Wales' Keeping Faith are on their third seasons as well.
While Dragon Studios, near Bridgend, was used by NBCUniversal to create a series based on the Aldous Huxley novel A Brave New World, which is on Sky and NowTV, and the second series is currently being shot.
It is understood that Bad Wolf will be using its own Wolf Studios to film the third series of His Dark Materials, but A Brave New World should have wrapped at Dragon Studios making the Llanharran site the most likely destination for the production of the Willow series.
Last week Pinewood Wales Studio's complex in Cardiff was taken over by Great Point, the media investment firm struck a deal with the Welsh Government to manage the complex for 10 years, but is expected to exercise an option to acquire the site next year.