How the cancelled Boba Fett movie became The Book of Boba Fett

The Book of Boba Fett, the second of Disney’s many live-action Star Wars series on the way, comes out next month. The show, which follows the infamous bounty hunter (Temuera Morrison) as he takes over the criminal empire once run by Jabba the Hutt, has been in development for longer than you might have realized, as Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy recently explained to Empire.

You see, Boba Fett was once going to get his own movie, with directors like Josh Trank (Chronicle) and James Mangold (Logan) at one point attached to direct. By then the streaming revolution came along, and things pivoted. As little work had been on the film, it wasn’t that hard to reorient. “There really was virtually no previous actual development,” Kennedy said. “We never got very far with Josh, quite frankly, because we never developed anything specific with him. And Jim Mangold never worked on a Boba Fett story.”

So instead, Boba Fett was reintroduced to the Star Wars faithful in the first season of The Mandalorian, where he rescued bounty hunter Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen) from death in the Tatooine desert. Originally, the plan was for Shand to die. “We realized, ‘Oh, she could be rescued,'” said The Mandalorian showrunner Jon Favreau. “And if she were, who would it be by?'”

Now, Boba Fett and Fennec Shand are the duo at the heart of The Book of Boba Fett. “Temuera and Ming-Na are an amazing combination in the show,” Kennedy said. “For everybody who loves Boba Fett and the world of Star Wars, this is the perfect show to reintroduce him. Let’s put it that way.”

Will The Book of Boba Fett reveal how Boba Fett survived the Sarlacc pit?

Morrison is also pleased to be playing Boba Fett; he previously played Boba’s father Jango Fett (technically Boba is a clone of Jango, not a son) in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. “It was a wonderful opportunity that Jon and Dave [Filoni] put into my hands,” he told Empire. “So I wanted to make the most of it, grab it, and give it a little bit of what we call in our [Maori] culture ihi … It’s got no meaning. But when the hairs on the back of your neck stand up? That’s what it means.”

Beyond that, the cast and crew aren’t saying much about the show. Favreau would only say that Fett has lived a “traumatic” existence. “Every one feels the pressure of being the child of their parents’ generation,” he said. “When you’re an actual clone, it must be exponentially more difficult to contend with.”

"A lot of characters — even Darth Vader — have a swing from who they could be, and who they wind up being. We’re all making choices every day. Sometimes, how you start the day and end the day are very different, and that journey is something we like watching other characters do."

There may be some fans out there wondering how Boba Fett can have his own show at all, given that he was seen in Return of the Jedi falling into the deadly Sarlacc pit. If the show explains that one away, Kennedy isn’t blabbing. “I can’t tell you that! Jon will kill me!”

The Book of Boba Fett premieres on Disney+ on December 29.

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h/t SyFy Wire