Star Wars fans still hoping to see a solo Boba Fett movie can now exit the roller coaster, as Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy officially announced the development of the film is dead.
Kennedy told film critic Erick Weber during a recent, special screening of ‘Black Panther’ that the sole focus right now is on making the live-action Star Wars TV series, ‘The Mandalorian,’ the best it can be. It’s been a long journey for fans hoping to see the bounty hunter get his own Star Wars story, like his nemesis Han Solo. However, the on-again/off-again development of the film never fully materialized.
The poor box office numbers from ‘Solo,’ as well as difficulties in finding a director — Josh Trank was fired before he even began after his dreadful version of ‘Fantastic Four’ — virtually sealed Boba Fett’s fate. Kennedy and Disney decided to put the brakes on all Star Wars spin-offs indefinitely.
Disney and Lucasfilm are both banking on the success of ‘The Mandalorian.’ Jon Favreau, who can take at least some of the credit for jumpstarting the Marvel Cinematic Universe after directing both ‘Iron Man’ and ‘Iron Man 2,’ is the executive producer, as well as one of the writers. ‘Battlestar Galactica‘ writer and producer Ronald D. Moore was also brought in to write scripts. Several big names, including Taika Waititi, Bryce Dallas Howard, Rick Famuyiwa, and Deborah Chow, have been tasked with directing duties.
Following in the path of DC, Disney is set to launch its own streaming service, and ‘The Mandalorian’ is slated to be the initial centerpiece. The 10-episode series was budgeted at $100 million, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see movie-quality production throughout the first season.
As for Boba Fett, super-fans will be disappointed yet again. The show is set to take place after the fall of the Empire, so the only real hope of seeing him in the show would be in the form of a flashback.
No word yet on when Disney’s streaming service will begin, so Star Wars fans will have to wait a little longer to see ‘The Mandalorian’ in action.
