‘Star Wars’: James Mangold to Write and Direct ‘Boba Fett’ Movie

James Mangold has been tapped to write and direct a Boba Fett movie in the Star Wars universe.

The new of Mangold’s efforts on the standalone Boba Fett movie comes on the eve of Solo: A Star Wars Story being released, revisiting the character originally played by Harrison Ford with Alden Ehrenreich in the titular role. His other well-known directorial efforts include Walk the Line, Heavy, and The Wolverine.

Mangold recently developed a huge fandom in the geek space for his efforts on the R-Rated 20th Century Fox film Logan, which took Hugh Jackman’s X-Men character Wolverine to gritty new heights.

Rumors of long time X-Men producer Simon Kinberg (who is currently at work on X-Men: Dark Phoenix) being involved with a Boba Fett film had been swirling for some time, already. It is unclear whether or not Kinberg was working on the project which Mangold is now helming.

Fett became a popular character after his inclusion in 1980’s Empire Strikes Back film where he was played by Jeremy Bulloch. He first appeared in 1978’s animated Star Wars Holiday Special but never went on to be thoroughly developed as a character. This leaves Mangold room to maneuver his story more freely than others might see, such as Obi-Wan, who is also said to have a film in development with Stephen Daldry in negotiations to direct. No writers, however, are attached to the standalone Obi-Wan film.

Fett’s origin story was revealed in George Lucas’ more modern Star Wars prequel trilogy and his adventures have been chronicled in several comic books, novels, animated shows, video games, and on merchandise.

Solo: A Star Wars Story is now playing in theaters.

(via THR)