Star Wars: Lucasfilm President Shoots Down Reports of Logan Director Previously Developing Boba Fett Movie

An all-new Boba Fett-centered series is premiering on Disney+ in a few weeks, but years ago, reports claimed that Logan director James Mangold had been working on a feature film inspired by the bounty hunter, yet Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy recently confirmed that the filmmaker was never attached to such a project. Going back even further into Lucasfilm’s history, filmmaker Josh Trank had been attached to helm a spin-off film that would have focused heavily on Fett, with Kennedy confirming that project was dissolved relatively early on into its development. Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett premieres on Disney+ on December 29th.

“There really was virtually no previous development. We never got very far with Josh, quite frankly, because we never developed anything specific with him,” Kennedy confirmed with Empire Magazine, per Star Wars News Net. “And Jim Mangold never worked on a Boba Fett story.”

While that project might have merely been speculation, there’s no love lost between the studio and Mangold, as he’s directing the upcoming Indiana Jones 5.

As compared to other rumored projects, Mangold’s Boba Fett project was something that was much more short-lived. Reports of that project emerged shortly before Solo: A Star Wars Story hit theaters, only for that film to earn mixed reactions from fans and critics, with Solo eventually going on to be the lowest box-office earner for the live-action franchise. Outside of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the studio has seemingly been more focused on TV projects, with even the Patty Jenkins-directed Star Wars: Rogue Squadron hitting roadblocks in recent weeks.

Despite Mangold’s project merely being nothing more than a rumor, Trank’s film was actually announced by Lucasfilm, though the focus of that project wasn’t detailed at the time. Trank would ultimately part ways with the studio entirely, being one of the first of many storytellers who would be announced to develop a project only to leave such projects.

“It was pretty much obvious I was going to be fired, so that was my option, was you could leave now or get shot in the face, right?” Trank detailed to ComicBook.com last year about frequent director exits. “But as far as when [Lord and Miller left Solo], there were people who were calling me up or like texting me with a link to the article to the news and being like, ‘This has got to make you feel a lot better.’ And my answer was always, ‘No. I actually would’ve really like to see Lord and Miller’s Han Solo.’ I’m still a fan at the end of the day, and I know that it would make sense for me to have some sort of alleviation, and that’s not in any way, shape, or form to rub my nose at the question, because it’s a great question. My answer is … it’s complicated.”

Stay tuned for details on the future of the Star Wars franchise. Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett premieres on Disney+ on December 29th.

Are you disappointed Mangold was never attached to the project? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!