Coinciding with the release of Solo: A Star Wars Story last month came news that the long-rumored Boba Fett movie was likely in the works, reportedly with Logan director James Mangold on board to write and direct. With a writer and director attached, the anthology film for the bounty hunter seemed like it might be ready in time to slot into the 2020 release date Lucasfilm has already blocked off for a movie. However, it turns out that the Boba Fett movie may not actually start filming for quite a while due to James Mangold's other projects and obligations, making that 2020 release date less likely.
This all comes down to a matter of timing. According to Omega Underground, James Mangold is looking to shoot his next film Ford v. Ferrari this summer in California. That film, about Ford's quest to build the world's fastest race car to take the crown from Ferrari at the 1966 Le Mans World Championship, is expected to star Matt Damon and Christian Bale. Given the talent involved, the period racing film seems like a shoo-in for awards contention. Because of that, Omega Underground surmises that Ford v. Ferrari will make the festival rounds before an awards friendly release date in the fall of 2019. The festival circuit and all of the promotion and such for the film will likely tie up James Mangold all of next year, making him unable to start filming Boba Fett at Pinewood Studios until 2020. If that is the case, Boba Fett may not be ready for release until either May or December of 2021.
Now, if this is true and things shake out this way, another Star Wars film will have to take the Boba Fett movie's presumed spot on the calendar in 2020. The most obvious film to potentially fill the void is the much-rumored but never officially confirmed Obi-Wan Kenobi anthology film. But this is all just speculation at this point. The Star Wars franchise has no shortage of projects in the pipeline at the moment, with some announced, some reported on and some rumored, but the only film with an official release date on the calendar is Episode IX.
Star Wars is in an interesting spot right now and I have to wonder if a Boba Fett movie is still the best play after Solo's disappointing performance. But if a Boba Fett movie is going to happen, it is actually probably a good thing that we won't be seeing it for a while. Boba Fett has always been more of a cool suit of armor than a fully fleshed-out character so it is important that the script be great before a project moves forward. If Boba Fett doesn't start shooting until 2020, that gives James Mangold plenty of time to get the story right to deliver a badass bounty hunter movie that fans of the Fett have always wanted. This would also give time for Lucasfilm and James Mangold to make absolutely positively sure that they are both on the same page with what this movie is going to be, so as to avoid yet another director shakeup.
Stay tuned to CinemaBlend and we'll keep you updated on any future developments on the Boba Fett movie and anything else from that galaxy far, far away.
