James Mangold “flirted with the idea” of a Boba Fett movie before deciding to do Indiana Jones

Before The Book of Boba Fett came into existence, Lucasfilm had planned to release more Star Wars spin-offs following the likes of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Solo: A Star Wars Story. The director of such popular films as Walk the Line and Logan, James Mangold, was looking to start his working relationship with Kathleen Kennedy and company. He would finally get his chance when he took up the directing position vacated by Steven Spielberg for a fifth entry in the Indiana Jones franchise, and now, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is just over the horizon.

However, Mangold had another project in mind before bringing back Harrison Ford for another archeology adventure. CBR.com reports that Mangold was looking to make a standalone feature film that centered around the popular Star Wars character, Boba Fett. It is not clear when this idea was being developed in relation to The Mandalorian‘s conception in the timeline, but according to Variety, Mangold “’more than flirted’ years earlier with making a Boba Fett movie that would have been a one-off spaghetti Western in the vein of Sergio Leone.” It is revealed that the idea would eventually evolve into the Disney+ series, The Book of Boba Fett.

Although Mangold had opted for Indiana Jones, during the production of Dial of Destiny, Kathleen Kennedy had inquired if he was still interested in exploring a story in the Star Wars universe. Now that Dial of Destiny is in the can, Mangold is now working on ideas for a prequel film tentatively titled Dawn of the Jedi. Mangold recalls when Kennedy asked him if he wanted to do a Star Wars film, “I said, ‘Yes, but it seems like everything you’re developing is continuing forward.’”

The idea for Dawn of the Jedi that Mangold is currently flirting with is “a ‘Ten Commandments’ about the dawning of the Force. It is basically, for fans, a kind of religion. What is it to have found this power and not even understand what it is?” Kennedy loved the pitch and pounced on the idea. She expressed her enthusiasm for working with Mangold again on this project. “Jim’s pretty fast — he’s already got the basic treatment laid out in his head. He has every intention of wanting to move this forward very aggressively, and we want to support that.” Kennedy alludes that once the strike of the WGA is settled and business continues, they will hit the ground running on the movie.