The Star Wars franchise is arguably the biggest property in film history, although it's in an interesting place at the moment. While Disney has been going full speed ahead with both main installments and standalone films, the somewhat disappointing response to Solo: A Star Wars Story may have thrown a wrench into things. Rumors are swirling about the future of the spinoffs, and there are quite a few projects in development. One of these is the long rumored Boba Fett movie, which director James Mangold is reportedly circling. Now we may have an idea of what the Boba Fett film might be about, because it's reportedly being influenced by a fan favorite Star Wars novel: Daniel Keys Moran's bounty hunter-focused story The Last One Standing, which was published in the Tales of The Bounty Hunters anthology. Moran recently revealed that he's already been approached by Disney a few times about the possible adaptation, saying:
I've had a guy at Disney email me a couple times over the years regarding Lucasfilm adapting Last One Standing into a Fett movie. Not asking permission, they own those works, just letting me know they were thinking about it. So that was kind. But after Solo stiffed, apparently there's some question about the Fett movie being made.
While this is far from a concrete confirmation, news of The Last One Standing possibly serving as an outline for a Boba Fett movie is enough to get most Star Wars fans basically salivating from excitement. Boba has been a fan favorite since his debuted in Empire Strikes Back, so there's certainly a captive audience ready to finally understand the Mandalorian bounty hunter.
Daniel Keys Moran's comments to Star Wars Interviews are going to be very exciting for the generations of fans who read the myriad Star Wars novels. In the decades before J.J. Abrams continued the franchise with its current trilogy, Luke, Han, and Leia's stories after Return of the Jedi were continued through the novelization. This took fans to new planets, saw Leia become trained in The Force, and introduced terrifying villains like Thrawn.
But once the current trilogy began development, the Star Wars novels were no longer considered canon. That extended universe is now called "Star Wars Legends", and are still available-- they just aren't part of the official timeline of the series. But if the Boba Fett movie ends up happening and taking inspiration from The Last One Standing, there's hope that more novelization plot lines might be developed for the silver screen. With Episode IX likely ending the Skywalker Era for good, Lucasfilm and Disney must mine new material in order to the beloved space opera moving.
With so much of Boba Fett's life a mystery, it would be great to see a visionary director like James Mangold helm the project. He shattered expectations for blockbusters with Logan, which ended up getting an Oscar nomination. We'll just have to see what's next in the galaxy far, far away.
The next Star Wars movie will be Episode IX on December 20th, 2019. In the meantime, check out our 2018 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.
