After months or rumor and speculation, the trades confirmed it this week: an Obi-Wan Kenobi solo film is in the works at Lucasfilm with Stephen Daldry (“Billy Elliott“) at the helm. Yet, buried in the fine print at Variety was another nugget of “Star Wars” in-development news. You’ve heard about potential Yoda and Boba Fett movies in the past, but the most surprising project ever-so-briefly mentioned was that of a spin-off focusing on the galaxies powerful Tatooine gangster Jabba the Hutt.
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Didn’t see that one coming did ya? Jabba is of course, the giant slug from the desert that has firmly taken his place in pop culture just based on his brief, but extremely memorable appearance in “Return of the Jedi” (though technically briefly retrofitted into George Lucas‘ CGI-laden revamp of “A New Hope“). If you somehow forgot about this scumbag, he’s a member of the Hutt intergalactic crime family, who created an empire in the Outer Rim and surrounds himself with bounty hunters, assassins, and, of course, slave girls, cue in the sexy Leia outfit. He’s also a smuggler that made frequent use of Han Solo’s services too and we know how that backfired. While it might seem out of left field, Jabba the Hutt’s life has the potential for a story that could explore the seedy underbelly of the Star Wars universe, perhaps not unlike the “Star Wars: Underworld” TV series that Lucas developed, but eventually scrapped. In its exhausting attempt to create more and more movies out of Lucasfilm’s unlimited amount of characters, it’ll be interesting what minor characters they turn to next.
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Let’s not forget, Guillermo del Toro once talked about a solo Jabba The Hutt movie. Or, at least when asked about “Star Wars” and any solo spin-off movies he’d like to direct, the Mexican filmmaker’s answer was Jabba.
The Tatooine based mobster slug also been featured in the “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” animated series (and a quick flash in “Attack Of The Clones“), but he has barely been explored live-action wise, so it’ll be an interesting venture, to say the least, for Disney, if it’s indeed being made (my guess, there’s talk of whether they can turn the loose idea into a film). A Jabba the Hutt movie would presumably be a much darker film than the other Star Wars films currently being made, but at the same time, it’s not like you’re ever going to see an R-Rated movie come out of Lucasfilm.
Guillermo del Toro Has An Idea For A Jabba The Hutt ‘Star Wars’ Origin Story