That 'Boba Fett' Solo Movie Was Very, Very Close To Happening

When Disney first announced that they would be making Star Wars spin-off films, it lit a flame in fans who’d spent decades wanting to see their favorite characters get their own movies. When Disney then refused to say who the subjects of those spin-offs would be, everyone went a little crazy with speculation. But among all the rumors and chaos and sheer fabrications, two projects seemed to always seem more credible than most. One was a solo Boba Fett movie, the other was a movie about the team of rebels who stole the plans to the original Death Star.

Clearly the latter came to pass – Rogue One: A Star Wars Story hits theaters in only three weeks!! – but how close did we get to Boba Fett actually happening? Incredibly close, apparently.

Here’s a timeline of what did happen:

June 4, 2014 – Disney announces Josh Trank as the director of a film in the Star Wars universe.
March 26, 2015 – Gareth Edwards and Josh Trank are set to talk at April’s Star Wars Celebration.
April 19, 2015 – Josh Trank is a no-show at Star Wars Celebration, with the audience being informed that he is under the weather. Instead Gareth Edwards shows fans a teaser trailer for Rogue One.
May 1, 2015 – Disney announces Josh Trank has departed from his untitled Star Wars project.

But here’s what was supposed to happen:

April 19, 2015 – Josh Trank and Gareth Edwards take the stage together and show fans teaser trailers for both Boba Fett and Rogue One.

What went wrong?

We still don’t know precisely why Trank and Disney ultimately parted ways (Trank’s statement at the time said he was “making a personal decision to move forward on a different path.”), but a new article at Entertainment Weekly confirms it all happened at the 11th hour. Up until the split, things had been going so well that Disney and Trank made a teaser trailer for Boba Fett, but that all got pulled days before the event. And now it is highly, highly likely the world will never, ever see it. 

But what about the Boba Fett movie?

It may still happen! Disney clearly spent time and money developing the project, so if it can be salvaged they’ll find a way. And it won’t take long, either. Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy has revealed her braintrust of writers, directors and producers are meeting soon to discuss the franchise’s future. She told EW, “we will have had The Force Awakens released, now Rogue One, and we’ve finished shooting Episode VIII. We have enough information where we can step back a little bit and say, What are we doing? What do we feel is exciting? And what are some of the things we want to explore?”

What kind of other spinoffs might we get?

Obviously Han Solo is coming in 2018, but so far it seems like everything is on the table. Yoda, Boba Fett, even Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan Kenobi is a viable candidate. What’s most telling, however, is that it sounds like Kennedy isn’t interested in starting another endless episodic franchise quite just yet. “It’s certainly exciting as a filmmaker, the notion that we can explore these stories that genuinely have a beginning, middle and an end, and don’t necessarily have to tie into something specific.”

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