Lucasfilm's planned Boba Fett movie has been canceled, according to Lucasfilm's Kathleen Kennedy. The film was being developed just as "Solo: A Star Wars Story," hit theaters. According to Cinema Blend, the film has been canceled to make room for "The Mandalorian."
Kennedy said the film was "100 percent dead," and they are instead focusing on "The Mandalorian." "The Mandalorian" is Disney's planned show set to premiere on Disney's streaming service. The film's cancelation is a sign that Disney is reconsidering it's standalone film ideas.
The potential Boba Fett film was a no-brainer when Solo was projected to bring in a massive box-office haul.
The film was expected to start a sub-franchise. Disney appeared to be modeling it's Star Wars future after the successful Marvel Cinematic Universe, which split up individual characters.
Lucasfilm's stand alone films made sense on paper
"Solo," set up a number of possible sequels, and a Boba Fett standalone would fit perfectly as a follow-up to "Solo." The three Star Wars films drew in the money for Disney. "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," claimed the box office in 2015. "Rogue One," nabbed the number two spot in 2016 and 2017 put "Star Wars: The Last Jedi," on top once again.
The Solo film did not gain much traction and has not even become one of the top 10 worldwide earners for 2018, getting beat by films such as "Venom," and "The Meg." In 2015, Disney's CEO Bob Iger publicly signaled that they were planning another 15 years of Star Wars.
After the collapse of the Solo film, Lucasfilm and Disney began to slow those plans down, leading to Iger admitting that fans should expect a "slowdown," when it comes to the franchise.
This past summer, it appeared that Lucasfilm was working on its slate of projects, but the company began reconsidering them. The planned standalone Boba Fett movie, was scheduled to be directed by "Logan" director James Mangold.
Lucasfilm has turned their focus to the upcoming streaming TV show.
Lucasfilm can't match Marvel's success with their own universe
The sudden change signals Disney's struggle with deciding the future of the franchise. Marvel has succeeded because it had a planned out end goal, while having its minor franchises move toward the conclusion of "Avengers: Infinity War," and the upcoming Avengers 4 film.
Lucasfilm started a major arc with "The Force Awakens," and rolled it into "The Last Jedi," and is now planning to conclude it next year with Episode IX, with the revelations of the real identities of Rey and Snoke.
While Star Wars offers a massive number of stories that can be told, they have not been able to find the secret to Marvel's massive success. "Rogue One," and "Solo," have become two good stories, but they don't move the Skywalker story along.
