Indiana Jones 5 director James Mangold was in talks for a Boba Fett movie in the Star Wars universe years ago. Now he reveals his plans and why they fell through.
With The Book of Boba Fett, we have now been given an entire series about the legendary bounty hunter from the galaxy far, far away. However, long before the success of The Mandalorian and co. at Disney+, a Boba Fett movie was planned to come to the cinema. The creative mind behind the project: James Mangold.
Mangold is currently represented on the big screen with Indiana Jones and the Wheel of Destiny. He has kept rather quiet about his failed Star Wars film in the past. As Variety reports, he has now revealed a few concrete details about his ideas on the Happy Sad Confused podcast.
Failed Star Wars movie: James Mangold wanted a hard Italowestern for Boba Fett
Mangold envisioned the Boba Fett film as a brutal Italo western with the action set entirely on one planet. In the US, the film would very likely have been given an R-rating, meaning that those under 17 would only be allowed to watch the film if accompanied by a parent or guardian.
Whether this concept would have gone through at Disney and Lucasfilm is questionable. Disney in particular stands for family-friendly entertainment and most Lucasfilm productions are also aimed at a similar target group. Looking back, Mangold says:
“When I was working [on the Boba Fett movie] at the time, I probably scared the hell out of them. ”
The cute baby Yoda who made the acquaintance of Boba Fett in season 2 of The Mandalorian would have had no place in this ruthless version of the Star Wars universe, as Mangold sums up.