Boba Fett is one of the most iconic characters in the Star Wars universe, but his solo movie never saw the light of day. Director James Mangold, who was hired to helm the project in 2018, recently revealed why his vision for the bounty hunter was too dark and gritty for Disney and Lucasfilm.
Embed from Getty ImagesIn an interview with the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Mangold said that his Boba Fett movie would have been a “borderline R-rated, single planet spaghetti Western” that did not fit with the more family-friendly tone of the Star Wars franchise. He said that his movie would have probably scared off the executives and the fans, especially those who love Baby Yoda (Grogu), the adorable Force user who appeared in The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett.
“At the point I was doing it I was probably scaring the shit out of everyone,” Mangold said. “I was making much more of a borderline R-rated, single planet spaghetti Western. They 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 movie was canceled after the box office failure of Solo: A Star Wars Story, which led to Lucasfilm pausing all future spinoff films. Mangold said that he was listening to spaghetti Western composer Ennio Morricone and typing away, but he was not sure if his movie was ever in anyone’s plans.
“In a moment of corporate realignment or whatever happened with the Han Solo movie, they just suddenly decided they weren’t making pictures like that, and the opportunities in streaming presented themselves,” Mangold said. “I was just listening to [spaghetti Western composer] Ennio Morricone all day, all night, and typing away. I’m not sure it ever would have happened. I’m not sure it was in anyone’s plans, what I was thinking.”
The story of Boba Fett was continued in the Disney+ series The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett, which have a more family-friendly tone and feature Baby Yoda (Grogu). The series also act as a continuation of The Mandalorian and are set between its second and third seasons.
Mangold is now working on a new Star Wars movie that will explore the origins of the Force and is inspired by Biblical epics such as The Ten Commandments. He said that he wanted to be part of the saga, but also not to be holding so much lore in the air that he could hardly tell a story.
“When I mentioned to [Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy] the idea that I had about going backward – really far backward – I was surprised that it excited her and the other wonderful people she works with at Lucasfilm,” Mangold told io9. “For me, it’s about, I want to be part of the saga, but I also don’t want to be holding so much lore in the air that you can hardly tell a story. And what I really wanted to do, what I told her, was just can we make a kind of the ‘Ten Commandments’ of the Force, you know? A kind of origin story of how the Force came to be known, understood, wielded, and harnessed.”
Relevant articles:
-Axed Boba Fett Movie Was a ‘Borderline R-Rated’ Spaghetti Western That ‘Probably Scared the S— Out of Everyone,’ Says James Mangold, Variety, Jun 29, 2023
-James Mangold Says His Scrapped Boba Fett Movie Was Borderline R-Rated, SuperHeroHype, Jun 29, 2023
-Canceled Boba Fett Spinoff Would Have Been Star Wars’ First R-Rated Movie (If Disney Allowed It), MSN, Jun 29, 2023
-James Mangold offers insights about canceled ‘Boba Fett’ film, Geo.tv, Jun 30, 2023