'Star Wars': Which characters are getting their own spin-off films?
The movie universe has broken wide open since the announcement that Disney purchased LucasFilm and plans to release new听听movies 鈥� beginning with听 in 2015. Just yesterday came the news from top executives that as well, to fill the years in between each numbered chapter of the unfolding new saga.
A was the first rumored prospect for spinoff; following in the trend of revisiting old characters from the original trilogy, today we get word that Han Solo and Boba Fett might also get their own, respective, feature films.
听is dropping the exclusive, claiming to have it from sources that Solo and Fett are indeed the characters we will see in spinoff films. It makes perfect sense for Disney/Lucas to take a two-pronged approach to the franchise; on the one hand offering fans the nostalgic thrill of new adventures with old, beloved (lucrative) characters 鈥� meanwhile expanding the brand with the new Episodes and their characters.
Word is the Han Solo film would take place between听Revenge of the Sith听and听A New Hope, chronicling how a young rapscallion bacome the legendary lovable roughneck smuggler. Of course (as will be detailed in our upcoming editorial) there must be a 鈥淗ow Han Met Chewie鈥� element to this film for it to be all it can be.
If you couldn鈥檛 tell by the parameters being set, Han Solo would have to be played by a younger actor 鈥� though like听The Hobbit, an aged Harrison Ford could still be utilized to frame the piece. Ford himself said he鈥檚 open to .
The Boba Fett movie is more vague in shape, but basically the idea is to set it between either Episodes IV & V, or V & VI, with the gist of it being Boba tangling with a collection of fellow听intergalactic听Bounty Hunters and scumbags to obtain (or protect) some quarry. With a loose frame like that, we could very well end up seeing Han Solo鈥檚 carbonite slab bounced around the screen for an hour an a half while Boba tries to get it back. Add in cameos by unscrupulous types like Darth Vader, and this anti-hero听Star Wars听flick could be something refreshingly new.
Captain America听director Joe Johnston told us personally 鈥� we鈥檇 still like to see that happen!听Star Wars meets听Dredd meets听Catch Me if You Can? Why not.
The current game plan is for听Episodes VII 鈥� IX听to be released every three years between 2015 鈥� 2021, with additional films (like these solo spinoffs) in the gaps between Episodes chapters. Given the resources of Disney/LF, there very well could be two听Star Wars听films out a year, keeping with the Marvel blueprint.
No word on casting, writers or directors yet 鈥� and given the state flux we are living in regarding Star Wars as a whole, anything could end up happening. Don鈥檛 count Yoda, Republic Commandos, Shadow of the Empire or anything else out.
What about you guys? Any ideas to share?
Kofi Outlaw blogs at .
