UPDATE: So, while these rumors of standalone Han Solo and Boba Fett movies came from strong sources at Entertainment Weekly, according to Deadline, their sources say “Nobody knows when these movies are even coming out. Right now, people are just kicking around ideas. Which is why you hear it’s Yoda one day and a young Han Solo another. It’s all in early development right now.”
Well, it looks like the rumors are beginning to take shape. Entertainment Weekly is citing sources at Lucasfilm and Disney who say two of the first STAR WARS standalone movies will focus on Han Solo and Boba Fett. This does not dispel the possibility of a Yoda movie, but EW has some good details on what these films will focus on. Here are the details:
The Han Solo story would take place in the time period between REVENGE OF THE SITH and A NEW HOPE, so although it’s possible Harrison Ford could appear as a framing device, the movie would require a new actor for the lead — one presumably much younger than even the 35-year-old Ford when he appeared in the 1977 original.
The Boba Fett film would take place either between A NEW HOPE and THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, or between EMPIRE and RETURN OF THE JEDI, where the bounty hunter was last seen plunging unceremoniously into a sarlacc pit. Exactly who would play him isn’t much of a complication – in the original trilogy, he never took off his helmet. And in the prequels, we learned he was the son of the original stormtrooper clone, played by Temuera Morrison, who’s still the right age for the part if his services were required.
Either way, EW cites their source says these details are very preliminary and may change, but this is awesome news. Both projects sound like they would be awesome and there is a tone of expanded universe comics and novels to inform both of these projects.
The story also states the timing of these projects is intentional. Placing them during the original trilogy time period allows for Disney and Lucasfilm to use Darth Vader and Jabba the Hutt despite both dying at the end of RETURN OF THE JEDI.
Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinsberg are in fact drafting these projects now as well as working with Michael Arndt on EPISODE VII. No directors have been named yet nor release dates aside from sometime before 2021. But, they are happening people! Now, lets start dream casting!
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