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A Boba Fett Standalone Movie Is Finally In Development, With James Mangold Writing/Directing

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The Hollywood Reporter- James Mangold is writing and will direct a Star Wars stand-alone movie centered on Boba Fett, the feared bounty hunter and fan-favorite character, The Hollywood Reporter has exclusively learned.

The reveal comes as Disney and Disney-owned Lucasfilm prepare for the release of the latest Star Wars stand-alone film, Solo: A Star Wars Story. Solo, which opens Friday, is the second movie to be spun from the main Star Wars line — Rogue One: A Star Wars Story was the first — but it is the first to focus on a particular character.

Lucasfilm is developing movies on a slew of characters including Obi-Wan Kenobi, which has Stephen Daldry in negotiations to direct, although no writers are working on a script.

If ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ was the movie nobody asked for, ‘Fett: A Star Wars Story’ is the movie EVERYBODY asked for.

From the moment standalone films in the Star Wars Universe were announced, I’d say one starring the Mandalorian bounty hunter Boba Fett has been the most requested by fans worldwide, with its only real competition being a Ewan McGregor-led Obi-Wan Kenobi movie set after ‘Revenge of the Sith’, and it appears that may be on the horizon as well. Both films are so highly in-demand in my opinion, because they could both serve as redemption tales…Boba’s because of how unceremoniously he was off’d in ‘Return of the Jedi’ after being fairly underutilized in the original trilogy, and Kenobi’s because…well…because Ewan McGregor was one of the prequels’ only glimmers of light and deserves a great script and a starring role for his efforts.

With Fett, though, there’s so many different directions you could take the film. We could see how he got his start in the criminal underbelly of Coruscant (similar to what they were trying to do with the cancelled LucasArts game ‘1313’), we could see a random gun-for-hire tale set at some point during the original trilogy, or we could see what I think we will, and that’s Boba escaping the Sarlacc Pitt and continuing his life as the galaxy’s greatest bounty hunter. It’s already canon that he’s alive and escaped, and after ‘Logan’, you’d have to assume that story is the one most up James Mangold’s alley to tell.

As far as the actor that should play him goes, I’d like to see Daniel Logan (who played Boba in ‘Attack of the Clones’) get a stab at it. I’ve got no idea how good his acting chops are now, I just think it’d be a really cool nod to continuity and know how passionate he is about the character. Timeline wise, his age probably lines up pretty closely as to how old Boba would be as well.

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Finally, if Lucasfilm would like my suggestion for what the first teaser trailer should be, I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again…

A vast desert. Coarse, rough, and irritating sand as far as the eye can see. Cut to: THE SARLACC PIT. The monster whimpers, as if it’s in pain, but we don’t know why. Faintly, we hear what sounds like some muffled blaster bolts and explosions seemingly coming from inside, but they don’t last long. The mouth of the Sarlacc opens up, just a smidgen, and becomes less tense, as if it’s in surrender mode, and a beaten and battered, armored hand claws its way out as “Bullet With Butterfly Wings” by The Smashing Pumpkins kicks in.

“THE WORLD IS A VAMPIRE”

The bounty hunter climbs his way out of the mouth of the Sarlacc entirely, looks off into the distance, and starts walking with purpose. We don’t know why he appears to be in such a rush, in the middle of the dessert, until he reaches the peak of a sand mound and we see her: SLAVE I.

‘FETT: A STAR WARS STORY’ hits the screen.

I’ve got chills just thinking about it, and after seeing ‘Solo’, I’m so at ease about these spinoffs that I’m already all in. Please do our favorite Mandalorian justice, Mangold. I’m trusting ya.