Summary
Boba Fettwas once supposed to have his own standaloneStar Warsmovie, and the film’s journey from announcement to cancelation to its current state had quite a few bumps, twists, and turns. There have been manycanceledStar Warsmoviesover the years, and one of the most disappointing was Boba Fett’s. As one of thebest bounty hunters inStar Wars, Boba Fett gained a legendary status among fans, despite only appearing in a few minutes of the original trilogy. He seemed like the perfect character to explore in aStar Warsmovie, but the plans never came to fruition.
Now, Boba Fett’s movie has been canceled and will likely never be made. It did, however, have a very unpredictable and interesting road to that ultimate fate. The film went through two directors and years of behind the scenes changes and shifts. Despite the various problems the Boba Fett film faced, it somehow managed to survive long enough to become a show instead of a movie, seven years after it was originally announced. This is the complicated story of how the Boba Fett movie went from a planned anthology film into a gritty Spaghetti Western and ultimately became a spinoff show of anotherStar Warsshow.
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Boba Fett Would’ve Been Star Wars' Second Anthology Film
Boba Fett’s Movie Would Have Released Between Rogue One & Solo
AfterDisney acquired Lucasfilm andStar Warsin 2012, the company announced several new movies. Disney first began work on the seventh installment in the Skywalker saga,Star Wars: The Force Awakens. In 2014, beforeThe Force Awakens' release, Lucasfilm announced additional plans to create two anthology films.
Though untitled at the time of the announcement, the first film would later becomeRogue One: A Star Wars Story, and Gareth Edwards was attached as the movie’s director. The other was intended to be a Boba Fett spinoff movie directed by Josh Trank (viaThe Hollywood Reporter), the director ofChronicleandFantastic Four(2015).Rogue Onewas released exactly as planned on July 11, 2025, but the Boba Fett movie didn’t follow suit.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Cast
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is a standalone film set in the Star Wars universe, where a group of resistance fighters, led by Jyn Erso, embarks on a mission to steal the Death Star plans. This pivotal event sets the stage for the iconic saga to follow.
Solo: A Star Wars Story
Solo: A Star Wars Story explores the early adventures of Han Solo, showcasing his beginnings and key encounters with significant characters in the Star Wars universe. Set in a backdrop of galactic turmoil, the film delves into the origins of his famed relationships and his rise as a rebellious smuggler.
The Boba Fett movie was supposed to be the second ofStar Wars' anthology films, but that honor went instead toSolo: A Star Wars Story. Han Solo’s origin story had been planned for a long time, but because ofSolo’s director troublesand other problems with development, Boba Fett was supposed to get his movie first. Instead, Trank left the project in 2015, and the plans to bring Boba Fett to the screen were mostly abandoned for the next several years.
Why Josh Trank Left Star Wars' Boba Fett Movie
Lucasfilm Lost Confidence In Trank After Fantastic Four’s Failure
When the Boba Fett movie was announced and Josh Trank was chosen to direct it, he was a rising director in Hollywood. His first feature film as a director,Chronicle, was a smash hit, and made over $120 million at the worldwide box office against a budget of just $12 million (viaBox Office Mojo). That massive success caused 20th Century Fox to hire him to direct the 2015 reboot ofFantastic Four, which is where his troubles began.Fantastic Fourhad an infamously difficult development, and according toIGN, word of Trank’s troubles reached Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy.
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Capone (2020)
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Kennedy reportedly lost faith in Trank’s abilities as a director, and her worries were proven right whenFantastic Fourmade it onto the list ofcomic book movies that lost the most money. Trank and Kennedy then reportedly reached a mutual agreement that he should begin to step away from the Boba Fett film. Trank was absent fromStar WarsCelebration 2015 (viaVariety), despite having plans to reveal details of his upcoming film. Just days later, Trank issued a statement saying he had quit the project. However, Trank toldIGNin 2020 that he quit because he knew he would be fired if he didn’t.
James Mangold Planned An R-Rated Spaghetti Western Boba Fett Movie
Mangold’s Take On Boba Would Have Kept Him As A Gritty Space Cowboy
The Boba Fett movie experienced a major setback when Trank departed from the project, but it wasn’t done just yet. In 2018, Lucasfilm announced that director James Mangold would be taking over and writing a new script for Boba Fett (viaTHR). While Mangold’s version of the film would never be finished, there are a few details about what he had planned for the bounty hunter.
Star Wars' Canceled Boba Fett Movie Sounds Like It Would’ve Avoided Disney’s TV Disaster
The Book of Boba Fett series is all kinds of controversial, though the canceled Star Wars movie the show replaced likely would have been stronger.
Mangold originally planned for theBoba Fett movie to be rated R, or in his words, “borderline rated-R.” There aren’t many details as to why Mangold thought it would be rated that way, but he likely would have leaned into the infamous bounty hunter side of Boba’s character, which would have brought a very mature tone with it.Mangold also said he wanted it to be essentially a Spaghetti Western where Boba would be on a single planet for the entire duration. That decision also would have made it a standalone film that didn’t connect to anything else inStar Wars.
Why Star Wars' Boba Fett Movie Was Canceled
Boba Fett’s Movie Was Canceled Because Of Solo, It’s Own Dark Tone, & The Mandalorian
Ultimately, after years of failed plans and behind the scenes changes, the Boba Fett movie was canceled in 2018 (viaCollider).The chief reason for its cancelation wasn’t any of the problems with its development, though, but rather another movie:Solo. AfterSolobecameStar Wars' first box office bomb - it holds the second-lowest rank on the list ofStar Warsmovies by box office earnings- Lucasfilm put a hold on anthology spinoff films (viaCollider).
Solo effectively killed Star Wars spinoff movies, which included Boba Fett’s movie, but that wasn’t the only reason for its cancelation.
Soloeffectively killedStar Warsspinoff movies, which included Boba Fett’s movie, but that wasn’t the only reason for its cancelation. Mangold told theHappy Sad Confusedpodcast that he believed his darker tone and “borderline rated-R” plan for the movie likely scared Lucasfilm and didn’t fit with the company’s overall plan for the franchise. He said that “[Lucasfilm]probably would never be able to embrace Baby Yoda if I had made that. It didn’t really belong in the world I was kind of envisioning.”
Mangold’s comments about Baby Yoda, now known to be Grogu, also highlights another cause of the Boba Fett movie’s cancelation. In 2018, Lucasfilm was already developingThe Mandalorian.The show created the character of Din Djarin, who all but replaced Boba Fett as the franchise’s most famous helmeted bounty hunter.The Mandalorianhas since been one ofStar Wars' most successful TV shows, and it became so popular Lucasfilm even announced it would be getting a movie,The Mandalorian & Grogu.
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WhileThe Mandalorian & Grogueventually replaced the Boba Fett film, the original Mandalorian bounty hunter wasn’t completely forgotten.Boba appeared inThe Mandalorianseason 2, and at the end of 2020, Lucasfilm announced Boba would get his own spinoff show,The Book of Boba Fett. That show was as close to a Boba Fett movie as fans will likely ever see, but it also deviated significantly from Mangold’s plan for the film. Instead of being a gritty story about the meanest bounty hunter in the galaxy,The Book of Boba Fettgave Boba a redemption story and established him as a benevolent crime lord on Tatooine.
Unfortunately,several things went wrong withThe Book of Boba Fett, and it failed to live up to many viewers' expectations of the legendary bounty hunter. It also struggled to find success both critically - it’s the lowest-rated DisneyStar Warsshow onRotten Tomatoes- and with fans. Considering the challenging road it took to get to screens in the first place, that lukewarm reception makes sense.The Book of Boba Fettmay not be the perfect show, but it’s likely as close asStar Warswill ever get to aBoba Fettmovie, and it finally gave the mythical Mandalorian bounty hunter his time to shine.
Sources:The Hollywood Reporter,Box Office Mojo,IGN,Variety,Collider,Happy Sad Confused,Rotten Tomatoes
Star Wars
Star Wars is a multimedia franchise that started in 1977 by creator George Lucas. After the release of Star Wars: Episode IV- A New Hope (originally just titled Star Wars), the franchise quickly exploded, spawning multiple sequels, prequels, TV shows, video games, comics, and much more. After Disney acquired the rights to the franchise, they quickly expanded the universe on Disney+, starting with The Mandalorian.
