George Lucas away with the fairies in new musical

LOS ANGELES  - George Lucas is tackling his first musical.

The untitled computer-animated film is in preproduction at Lucas' Skywalker Ranch production facility in Marin County, north of San Francisco. Plot details are locked tighter than the plans for the Death Star, but one element known is that the script features fairies.

The project marks a rare foray outside the "Star Wars" universe for Lucas who, while not having directed a movie since "Revenge of the Sith" in 2005, is putting the finishing touches on "Red Tails," the adventure movie that tells the World War II story of the Tuskegee Airmen, America's first black pilots. Lucas wrote the screenplay and is executive producing.

Kevin Munroe is directing the musical, which is expected to feature songs from a variety of sources. Munroe hails from the animated world and made his directorial debut in 2007 with the fourth Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, "TMNT." He recently wrapped production on his live-action debut, the adaptation of the "Dead of Night" comic that stars Brandon Routh and Taye Diggs.

David Berenbaum, who wrote the Will Ferrell comedy "Elf" and children's fantasy "The Spiderwick Chronicles," penned the screenplay. It is not known whether Berenbaum is working from a story by Lucas, who tends to originate much of Lucasfilm's intellectual property.

A Lucasfilm spokesperson said it was too early to comment on the details of the project.