Star Wars TV series to hit screens in 2014

Disney has announced it will launch TV series Star Wars Rebels

Disney has announced it is to launch an animated TV series based on Star Wars (AP)

Disney is set to launch an animated Star Wars TV series, it has announced today.

The animated series will give fans of the multi-million science fiction franchise new stories in the run-up to the next Star Wars film in 2015.

Star Wars Rebels will be set in the two decades between the events of the third and fourth film, where the Empire becomes a dominant force in the galaxy, according to Disney.

The series, which will premiere globally on the Disney Channel in 2014, is the company's latest plan to extend George Lucas’ franchise after buying Lucasfilm in October 2012.

Earlier this month Disney announced it had signed an exclusive licensing agreement with EA to create games around the Star Wars franchise.

The company also plans to release three new Star Wars films, with the first in the series, Star Wars: Episode VII, due for release in 2015.

Jonathan Rhys Meyers, who starred in The Tudors and From Paris with Love, is rumoured to be in the running for the forthcoming Star Wars film, according to the Latino Review.