With today’s news that Star Wars Rebels co-creator Simon Kinberg is developing a new trilogy of Star Wars movies for Lucasfilm, we here at Laughing Place couldn’t help but think back over the past dozen years since Disney acquired the company at how many similar projects have either been announced or leaked out through entertainment industry trade publications, and have not yet come to fruition. Below are 15+ examples of Star Wars movies, TV series, or publishing projects that were in active development but haven’t seen the light of day… and bear in mind, these are just the ones we know about.
Josh Trank’s Boba Fett movie – Back at Star Wars Celebration 2015 in Anaheim, Chronicle director Josh Trank was scheduled to take the stage alongside Rogue One director Gareth Edwards to talk about two upcoming Star Wars “anthology” films that were set to tell stories outside of the then-upcoming sequel trilogy. But Trank did not show up for the panel, and later it was revealed that he had parted ways with Lucasfilm. Eventually we learned that his movie would have been about Boba Fett, and was (ironically) going to have been written by Simon Kinberg, who is now apparently getting a trilogy of his own. As a side note here, a few years later director James Mangold took up the reins of a Boba Fett movie, but ultimately the notorious bounty-hunter-turned-crimelord found a home on Disney+, for one season at least.
Disappointment Rating (on a scale of 1 to 10): 1, as I am not a fan of Josh Trank as a filmmaker or a person.
Guillermo del Toro’s Jabba the Hutt movie – Though we didn’t find out about it until recently, around the same period a Jabba the Hutt movie was in active development under director Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy, The Shape of Water) and writer David S. Goyer (The Dark Knight, Dark City, Terminator: Dark Fate). It’s likely that the disappointing box-office performance of Solo: A Star Wars Story in 2018 derailed this project, which the creative team didn’t even start talking about publicly until 2023.
Disappointment Rating: 8. This could have been a lot of fun, and based on del Toro’s other work it certainly would have looked cool. The only question I have is whether Jabba could function as an interesting character on his own.
Rian Johnson’s trilogy – This was officially announced by Lucasfilm just about a month prior to the release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi in 2017, and since then nothing has come of it. But every time either of them are asked about it, both Johnson (Brick, The Brothers Bloom, Looper) and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy say it could still happen after the filmmaker finishes his commitment to more Benoit Blanc movies at Netflix.
Disappointment Rating: 7. I like The Last Jedi a lot, though it has its problems and was obviously met with a mixed reception from the Star Wars fanbase at large. But Johnson’s other work is so strong that I believe he could do something pretty memorable with the franchise if given the opportunity to work outside of the sequel trilogy.
Benioff & Weiss trilogy – Another trilogy was announced in 2018, this time from Game of Thrones showrunner David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. Due to their credentials, rumors began circulating that these films could take place during the Old Republic era of the larger Star Wars timeline. But by the fall of 2019 it had fallen apart, and the creative pair went on to make 3 Body Problem for Netflix.
Disappointment Rating: 5. Say what you will about Game of Thrones’ final seasons, but it was really great for a long while there. The problem is that maybe their output isn’t so great if they don’t have existing source material to work with. Still, I hope Lucasfilm revisits the idea of something set during the Old Republic, if that was indeed the concept.
J.D. Dillard project – In 2020 this lesser-known filmmaker (Devotion, Sweetheart, Sleight) was reportedly developing his own Star Wars project with screenwriter Matt Owens (Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Luke Cage, and The Defenders). At the time it was unclear whether this project was intended to end up on the big screen or on Disney+, but at this point I don’t think we’ll ever know. Notably, Dillard played the First Order stormtrooper FN-1226 in 2019’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Disappointment Rating: 6. I haven’t seen any of Dillard’s movies or Owens’s Marvel writing, so this whole thing would have been an unknown quantity to me. But as always I would have approached it with an open mind if it had actually been made.
Kevin Feige movie – The most frustrating thing about this one is that Kathy Kennedy has recently claimed it was never even in discussion, even though Lucasfilm had officially announced it on the company’s YouTube webseries The Star Wars Show. The only things we knew about it were that the Marvel Studios president would have teamed with screenwriter Michael Waldron (Loki, Doctor Strange In the Multiverse of Madness, Rick and Morty) and that the Russo Brothers (Avengers: Endgame, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Community) were at one point approached to direct.
Disappointment Rating: 7. Feige has had a lot of wonderful successes as a producer, but would his sensibilities carry over to the Star Wars universe in a way that fits?
Taika Waititi movie – Officially announced by Lucasfilm on May the 4th (Star Wars Day) of 2020, the What We Do In the Shadows / Jojo Rabbit / Hunt for the Wilderpeople filmmaker later expressed interest in moving the Star Wars franchise beyond pre-existing characters and possibly starring in the movie himself. But there hasn’t been a tremendous amount of forward momentum on this project, and the underwhelming response to Waititi’s Thor: Love and Thunder from Marvel Studios (both critically and financially) may have put it on the backburner.
Disappointment Rating: 4. This is another creative talent that I really love when he’s doing his own stuff, but also don’t necessarily feel like I’m chomping at the bit for his take on Star Wars. It comes down to personal preference, but I like it when fantasy universes take themselves seriously, and from what I can tell it doesn’t seem like Taika agrees.
The Mandalorian novel by Adam Christopher – Pivoting to Lucasfilm Publishing for a moment, it was officially announced in June of 2020 that the story of The Mandalorian Disney+ series would continue on with original stories in books and comics, in addition to new seasons of the show. But in July of that year we learned that the novel would be delayed until 2021, and then the following spring it was canceled altogether. My guess is that this was because of creator Jon Favreau’s expanding control over his corner of the Star Wars galaxy, but we’re lucky that author Adam Christopher went on to write the excellent novel Star Wars: Shadows of the Sith in 2022. As for The Mandalorian, we’ve only gotten adaptations of existing stories from the series so far in comics and books.
Disappointment Rating: 7. Christopher is a great writer, but at the same time I want Favreau and Filoni to have a definitive say over what happens to Mando and Grogu, even between episodes and movies.
Rangers of the New Republic – This proposed spinoff of The Mandalorian was officially announced by Kathleen Kennedy during a Disney Investor Day event in December of 2020, but it was likely derailed by the “cancellation” of actress Gina Carano and the removal of her character Cara Dune from future Star Wars projects.
Disappointment Rating: 7. I would very much like to see this idea picked up using different characters, as I’m always in favor of further expansion of the post-Return of the Jedi Star Wars timeline and more content from the minds of Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni.
A Droid Story – Another Disney+ announcement coming out of that same Disney Investor Day, this one was intended to be animated and starred a new character who would be guided by the familiar droids R2-D2 and C-3PO. According to Wookieepedia, there has not been an update on this project since February of 2021.
Disappointment Rating: 5. Another unknown quantity outside of the title and a brief synopsis. It could be cool, but have droid-focused Star Wars stories worked in the past?
Lando – Also from the 2020 Disney Investor Day announcements came the reveal of this series, and eventually it was confirmed that Donald Glover was in talks to reprise his role as the young Calrissian from Solo: A Star Wars Story. Then showrunner Justin Simien left the project, next it was going to be a movie, and now it just feels like it’s in limbo.
Disappointment Rating: 9. Of all the projects on this list, I think this is the one I was most interested in. I love Lando as a character, and Donald Glover’s take on him was a lot of fun in Solo. Plus if Solo 2 is never going to happen, I do want to see at least a few threads from that movie continue on in some form.
Rogue Squadron – The final of the Star Wars projects announced during that not-so-fateful Disney Investor Day in 2020, this one has been on-again off-again under director Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman, Monster, The Killing) and writer Matthew Robinson (The Invention of Lying, Love and Monsters, Dora and the Lost City of Gold). Rumors were the movie was to be set after the events of the sequel trilogy.
Disappointment Rating: 6. More Star Wars on the big screen is almost always a good thing, but X-wing pilots were never my favorite part of A Galaxy Far, Far Away… and like many people I did not much care for Wonder Woman 1984.
Shawn Levy movie – As Deadpool & Wolverine was in pre-production in the fall of 2022, the trades reported that director Levy (The Adam Project, Free Guy, Night at the Museum) was in talks to helm his own Star Wars film. And then this past summer, just prior to Deadpool & Wolverine’s release, we learned that screenwriter Jonathan Tropper (Banshee, The Adam Project, This Is Where I Leave You) was attached to write. That’s the last we heard about it, but this was recent enough that it could still happen.
Disappointment Rating: 3. Eh. See what I said about Taika Waititi above, but I’m a bigger fan of his than Levy’s.
Dawn of the Jedi – That’s not the official title (that we know of), but it’s essentially what was promised from director James Mangold’s (Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Logan, Ford v Ferrari) Star Wars film when it was announced by Kathy Kennedy on-stage at Star Wars Celebration 2023 in London. Then in the spring of this year we learned that writer Beau Willimon (Star Wars: Andor, The Ides of March, House of Cards) was on board to pen this “biblical epic” set in the very early days of the Star Wars universe.
Disappointment Rating: 7. Again, this announcement was recent enough that it could still happen. Mangold has proven himself to be a talented filmmaker (and Willimon is obviously a great writer), but let’s not forget Dial of Destiny’s disappointment at the box office last year.
Dave Filoni-directed Mandoverse movie – Simultaneously brought on stage at Star Wars Celebration 2023 was Lucasfilm’s now-Chief Creative Officer Dave Filoni, who was announced to be directing his first live-action feature which would tie together the “Mandoverse” of Disney+ series The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, and Skeleton Crew.
Disappointment Rating: 8, but I would put money down on this being the most likely project on this list to eventually happen, just because The Mandalorian and Grogu (directed by Jon Favreau) has already been shot and The Mandalorian-related content has proven to be the most popular of Disney-era live-action Star Wars output. Also Filoni is basically in charge of Star Wars on the creative side now.
The New Jedi Order – Again we do not know the actual title yet, but filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (Ms. Marvel, A Journey of a Thousand Miles: Peacekeepers, A Girl In the River: The Price of Forgiveness) was officially announced to direct this movie about Rey’s efforts to revive the Jedi after the Star Wars sequel trilogy. Unfortunately multiple acclaimed writers have come and gone from the project, including Damon Lindelof (Lost, The Leftovers, Watchmen) and Steven Knight (Locke, Serenity, Dirty Pretty Things) and it keeps getting delayed.
Disappointment Rating: 7. I’d like to see the sequel era continue, but I just hope they get it right. For that reason, I’m almost glad they’re taking their time with it.
Honorable mentions: They were eventually released in different forms, but I always think it would be interesting to see the planned versions of movies like Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (before Tony Gilroy’s reshoots), Solo: A Star Wars Story (when it was being made by The LEGO Movie filmmakers Phil Lord and Chris Miller), and Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker (when it was called Duel of the Fates under its original writer/director Colin Trevorrow). I’m sure most of these decisions were for the best, but one can’t help but be curious about what could have been.
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