Yesterday, we learned that one of the rumored standalone Star Wars films that Disney was developing was set to be centered around the Jedi Master Yoda. Disney didn’t confirm this specific detail, but did admit that they were indeed developing some standalone films in addition to the new sequel trilogy announce last October. Now comes word of two more possible subjects for solo films – roguish smuggler Han Solo and armored bounty hunter Boba Fett.
Entertainment Weekly had the scoop from their own anonymous sources, and they caution that with things still in the early stages of development details could change. As it stands now, though, the plan is for a young Han Solo movie set in the time period between Star Wars Episode III and IV, while the Boba Fett film would be slotted into the space either between Episode IV and V or between Episodes V and VI.
Obviously, a young Han Solo film would require some new casting, though I suppose that Harrison Ford could come back if some sort of framing device were needed. The Expanded Universe of Star Wars novels and comics have fleshed out Han’s background with a short career in the Imperial Navy that ended with him freeing Chewbacca and other wookies from slavery and fleeing into the galactic underworld to live as a smuggler. That’s certainly some fertile grounds for a story if whoever is developing the script chooses not to head off in their own direction story-wise. Noted Star Wars author Timothy Zahn recently published a Han Solo adventure set between Episodes IV and V titled Scoundrels, but EW’s sources state that the film is not an adaptation of the book.
Given that Boba Fett is a clone of his father Jango, played by Temuera Morrison in Episode II – Attack Of The Clones, I suppose it is possible that the actor could come back to play his own son. And given that Boba saw his own father’s death at the hands of the Jedi, there is plenty of potential for some high drama to be played out in a solo film.
There is no word yet as to whether the two known standalone film writers Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg are working on either of these projects, the aforementioned Yoda film or are scripting other ones yet to be revealed.
Captain America director Joe Johnston, who designed Boba Fett’s armor back when he was a special effects artist at Lucasfilm, has stated that he would love to direct a Boba Fett film, though that was way back in the summer of 2011. Coincidence or was Johnston already hinting that he knew George Lucas was thinking about selling his Star Wars empire to Disney and that there would be new films?
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