Following the Clues to a Possible Boba Fett Stand-Alone Movie. (Part 3 of 3)
In the first part of this Boba Fett series we looked-back at his early rise. In part 2 we took a closer look at his controversial appearances in the Special Editions and the Prequel Trilogy. Now, we look at what will ultimately become of the galaxy’s most feared bounty hunter.
PART III: FETT’S FATE – MISTER BOBA RISING!
When the news cracked the mundane “peace” of the world-wide web in October of 2012 we learned that fans would be getting more Star Wars in perpetuity. Those were very exciting days that spurred Viral Hide to spawn our very own starwarsnewsnet.com. I, for one, kept coming back to this Blog everyday to see what new and thrilling tid-bits the web had to offer about that galaxy far, far away. One of the earliest announced Disney intentions, aside from the long-awaited Sequel Trilogy, was that there would be [originally stated] two spinoff films:
“The Star Wars cinematic galaxy is about to experience a Big Bang. Lucasfilm is officially announcing new spinoff films that will expand the mythos and depths of the Star Wars universe in previously unexplored ways.”
The same press release mentioned that Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg would be writing them:
“One of the standalone films will be written by Lawrence Kasdan, screenwriter of The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and co-writer of Return of the Jedi while the other will be penned by Simon Kinberg, writer of Sherlock Holmes and Mr. and Mrs. Smith. The movies will be separate from the upcoming Episodes VII, VIII, and IX, on which Kasdan and Kinberg are also consulting, and are expected to be released sometime after Episode VII. Each standalone film will focus on a specific character, and two spinoff films are currently confirmed.”
While we knew who was initially working on them, the BURNING question was, Who are the “specific characters” these movies will focus on?
Speculation has run rampant all over the net. The major contenders, all thrown-about by fans and Bloggers alike, centered around these characters — Han Solo, Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jabba the Hutt, Darth Maul, and Boba Fett! Of course, Boba Fett! In fact, I for one, easily see Boba Fett as THE single best candidate for his own movie. Obviously I am not alone. IGN conducted a poll of the fans and Fett won with 23% of the vote, beating out such characters as Yoda, Maul, and Windu. He likely would have had a much larger margin of victory if the poll didn’t include so many characters, especially ones, like R2-D2 & C-3PO, who were specifically ruled-out because they are part of the main saga.
Sure the fans want Boba Fett! Sure they LOVE Boba Fett! Sure he sells action figures! But is he really movie worthy? What evidence is there to suggest Fett could be in Episode VII and/or get one of the spinoffs? Actually, there’s quite a bit.
After the Prequel Trilogy ended, George Lucas promised us no more films. However, we were being promised TV series in the form of The Clone Wars and the then being developed “Underworld” live action series that was eventually cancelled. The teaser campaigns for “Underworld,” featured Boba Fett, automatically telling the fans that we could expect to see more of him. But, like I said, “Underworld” was cancelled due to the great expense, according to George Lucas:
In May 2011, George Lucas stated that 50 episodes had been written, but that the series is on hold awaiting advances in technology and reductions in prices.
But what of that material? Surely, fifty, one-hour scripts can’t just be thrown out? Then there was the LucasArts developed video game 1313, which promised to follow the adventures of Boba Fett as he navigated his way through the dangerous sub-level 1313 of the city-planet Coruscant.
Star Wars: 1313 was a video game in development at LucasArts. It was to follow the bounty hunter Boba Fett navigating level 1313, a subterranean metropolis within the planet Coruscant.
Once Disney purchased Lucasfilm Ltd. and it’s subsidiaries like LucasArts, 1313 was cancelled and LucasArts was dismantled. I repeat, What of the material? It would seem that Disney has a virtual treasure trove of material to draw-on for a Boba Fett movie.
Then in 2011, before anyone had any inkling that George would sell to Disney, or that we’d be getting any new movies, Joe Johnston, “Father of Boba Fett,” during the press circuit for his Captain America movie, revealed that he wanted to make a Boba Fett movie and had actually been campaigning George for it as well:
“I’m trying to get George to make a feature based on Boba Fett.” When asked if he would direct the film Johnston said simply, “I would like to, it would be a lot of fun.”
Of course, George knows how popular Boba Fett is. It seems highly likely that he would write-up some form of treatment for it. We know George had treatments for the Sequel Trilogy as well as some other movies, which has been well documented by the StarWars7News team.
Then there was the infamous Disney Executive Breakfast for George Lucas which happened this past April. Execs and VIP’s alike were celebrating everything Star Wars, however one of the hot topics of discussion was one Boba Fett movie:
From what we have heard about the event, there was a lot of discussion about Boba Fett at the breakfast. The executives are apparently enthusiastic about the rocket man. There are some minor problems going forward with a film about a villain, however. The general problem with Boba Fett is how to use him effectively without ruining his evil essence to make him the protagonist of a Star Wars Spin-off film.
The executive was overheard (paraphrased) as saying: “Lucasfilm wants Boba Fett to remain menacing and scary but we have to make him the hero of the film and it is a real challenge.”
Lucasfilm is adapting the Marvel model for most of what they are doing but there isn’t a clear cut precedence for a Boba film to follow. So far, Marvel hasn’t been able to figure out how to make a villain into a hero while keeping the villain dangerous and evil outside of Loki’s antics through various Marvel films.
If Disney Executives having a brunch, discussing Boba Fett’s spinoff movie wasn’t convincing enough for you, then I present this little snippet of “evidence.” A German website got ahold of and broke Hasbro’s schedule for the release of Star Wars toys. Might not seem like much to you, but Hasbro has to be in the loop for the logistics since Disney plans a movie every year for the next six. Here’s the alleged schedule as you will no doubt notice Boba Fett slated for 2016:
Fall 2014: Rebels
2015: Episode VII
2016: Boba Fett
2017: Episode VIII
2018: Solo
2019: Episode IX
2020: Red Five
IF that wasn’t enough, we have Jeremy Bulloch — the original body for Boba Fett — kind of teasing a potential Fett project:
When asked whether he had been approached for Episode VII, Bulloch responded: ‘Not yet. But I – oops. [Slaps hand to mouth.]’ He added: ‘I’m not allowed to say. I’m sorry.’
Next I add fuel to the fire by way of unconfirmed rumors from the Inquisitr, which sounds like a tabloid, that Temuera Morrison has already signed-on to some sort of Fett project. Most likely just to voice though since he is now the official voice, having dubbed the OT dialogue:
The Boba Fett movie may have cast Temuera Morrison as the fabled bounty hunter for the Star Wars spinoff. In a related report by The Inquisitr, one of the rumor out there is that the writer for the Walking Dead video game series will also being writing the Boba Fett movie script. We also know that the Star Wars spinoff will be filmed at London’s Pinewood Studios in 2015 and that Disney is having a hard time transforming the feared bounty hunter into a good guy.
All of these bits and pieces to the Fett puzzle catch us up to last week’s news as reported by our own Pomojema that JW Rinzler says George says Boba Fett escaped the Sarlacc Pit! IF this is the case then that means that Boba Fett is definitely fair game for an Episode VII appearance. While the temptation for Disney might be strong in order to cash-in on merchandise sales, I would say this is very unlikely. Fett really serves no reason to appear in E7 other than the dreaded “fan service.” And there is no real reason to have every surviving character of ROTJ appear, just to “make it feel like the Original Trilogy.” Really, as die-hard as Fett fans are, do we really need to see a nearly 70 Boba Fett?
No. The much more likely answer to this equation is that Fett is going to have his rebirth in the form of a Sarlacc escape in his very own spinoff movie. Moreover, I believe Disney is open to making Fett as a series should the first one succeed as I have no reason in the world to doubt it will. There are some logistics to be worked-out still — Who plays Fett in his prime? How do we follow him as a main protagonist and not show his face if we have someone other than Daniel Logan or Temuera Morrison playing him? (Although I don’t see why Morrison couldn’t or shouldn’t play him.) Do we even need to see his face at all?
And as the Disney execs apparently discussed — How do we make Fett a likable protagonist that we care about, yet menacing and fearsome? The last one is no problem. See, having a “bad guy” as a protagonist or anti-hero is not really new. Fans have proven in the past that they can and will follow bad guys as the lead. Take for example Hannibal Lecter. The movie Hannibal let us into the intricate mind of one of the greatest villains of all-time, who lived by his own set of codes. OR, an even better example, is the highly popular TV show Breaking Bad. I just finished watching all six seasons in which we watched and willingly followed the plight of Walter White who was a cold-blooded “monster,” who created his own meth empire. It’s not that we “cheered for” Walter but rather that we followed along and at least understood his motivations. The viewer or fan doesn’t need to agree with said motivations, or actions, all the time, just to understand them, which makes for compelling drama. In the case of Boba Fett the writers should follow two simple guidelines:
1) DO NOT MAKE Boba Fett a “Good guy” = The scoundrel with a heart of gold gambit has been done to death and in Star Wars is executed by Han Solo.
2) DO MAKE Boba Fett consistent, after all he has a penchant for disintegrations.
IF Disney Execs, presumably Alan Horn and Bob Iger, in particular, are smart, and I believe they are, they will stay out of the mix and allow the writers to keep Fett true to form as a lethally cunning mercenary and let us fans handle the rest.
Which leads me to a really good question — Where exactly do we stand in the Boba Fett spinoff development??? 2016 is not that far off in terms of movie making.
Right from the announcement of spinoff projects it was rumored and/or speculated that Lawrence Kasdan was writing Fett. This makes a ton of sense as he was one of the co-creators of the character and knows Fett intimately. It is also apropos, but is it correct? According to director Jon Schepp it is:
In an interview with AMC Movie Talk, Schepp said of the Star Wars spin-off films: ‘One of them is Boba Fett. It is. I know. I know for a fact. ‘I will never reveal my source, but it is the one written by Lawrence Kasdan.’
To re-cap this fluid SPECULATION:
* Boba Fett is Spinoff #1
* Boba Fett to be released in 2016
* Boba Fett is written by Lawrence Kasdan
Lock, stock, and smoking barrel, right? Now comes the confusion. IF Boba Fett is, in fact, Spinoff #1 as we suspect, then WHAT is Gareth Edwards and Gary Whitta working on??? Hmmm . . . As Viral reported via StarWars.com:
In addition to the episodes of a new Star Wars trilogy, Lucasfilm and Disney have begun development on multiple stand-alone movies that will offer new stories beyond the core Saga. Gareth Edwards will direct the first stand-alone film, with a screenplay by Gary Whitta. The film is due out December 16, 2016.
Complete with CORROBORATED 2016 release date, most of our evidence points to Boba Fett as the first movie and apparently, according to this OFFICIAL press release, it still needs to be written because it wasn’t written by Lawrence Kasdan as rumors have suggested. Either that OR the Hasbro title release is wrong. Someone here is wrong. Hasbro or Jon Schepp.
Since it looks like Fett is first, could we presume that Kasdan wrote the script for Spinoff #2 instead, rumored to be Han Solo? This makes much more sense for two reasons: First, Kasdan wrote Han Solo better than anyone in history, including the old EU “Legends.” Second, Josh Trank has been OFFICIALLY announced as the director for Spinoff #2, but no writer, which strongly suggests that script is already complete. (Keep in mind that Simon Kinberg was originally announced to be writing a project, most likely referring to his Rebels work.)
Despite all this seemingly mounting evidence supporting a Fett spinoff, it is not a forgone conclusion. Just when we thought we had a pretty good read on the development of several Star Wars projects at once, I must finally bring up the curious case of England’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, who confirmed that the first spinoff will indeed start filming at Pinewood next year. WHY is this curious, you may be asking yourself? Well, Pinewood is where the Millennium Falcon is currently stationed. Would it not make sense to shoot a Han Solo movie while the set is still fresh?
“Lucasfilm and Disney’s decision to shoot the Star Wars stand-alone movie in the U.K. is testament to the incredible talent in Britain.”
As Yoda famously said, “Always in motion the future is.” It’s difficult for fans and Bloggers alike to get a perfectly clear aim at what is to come, especially with multiple projects in the works all at once. This is definitely a lot different from the Lucasfilm days when we had just one movie coming. But we’ve carefully tried to detail all of the signs that strongly point to Boba Fett’s future as the star of the first spinoff movie and a possible appearance in Episode VII as well. No doubt this is a very anticipated project and will perfectly continue the momentum that Episode VII is building for the new Disney/LFL Star Wars era, a momentum that will rapidly carry us through to Episode VIII and beyond!
The Inquistr article mentions the writer of the Walking Dead vieod game and that is Gary Whitta.
Yes, but keep in mind that their article was posted a month after the official announcement of Edwards and Whitta.
Well I don’t know about you guy but I’m almost convinced that the first spin-off movie will be about Boba Fett. 🙂
I know someone who wrote Han Solo better than Kasdan.
The man who created him. George Lucas.
He did actually write all the Star Wars scripts though he was gracious enough to let other people’s names go on them. Not that Kasdan did nothing but did he really do anymore than Harrison Ford in helping to shape the character off the page.
More I would say and why was Ford cast? Because Lucas saw in him the thing he wanted to be played. So Lucas created the character, wrote and cast him.
Pretty good. Oh and he created all the other characters as well and wrote them, then cast them well.
Boba Fett has run his race. We’ve seen him in the OT, the PT, and TCW. And he is rumored to appear in Rebels. At this point I’m much more interested in seeing a Yoda spinoff.
I would rather see a spinoff movie about a new character, one that hasn’t been seen before. But of course knowing Disney this is never going to happen.
As if Yoda hasn’t appeared in pretty much all the SW material as of late? Fett has been featured far, far less than Yoda.
I just hope they decide to set the movie after Return of the Jedi. It would be interesting to see Fett operate in a galaxy without Jabba (apparently his primary employer) in an era where the Empire is crumbling and chaos ensues.
As for making him a “Hero” I really don’t see that as a problem. Boba Fett was never evil in the way the Emperor was. He just acts in his own best interests. There’s a lot of gray area there.
To anyone who thinks a Boba Fett movie would bomb, ask yourself this – have you seen all the merchandise that was produced of the character in the past? Have you seen how well it sold compared to the merchandise of other minor characters in the Star Wars universe? Do you honestly believe it would tank at the box office considering how much revenue the character has brought in?
That’s what Dreamworks said about How to Train Your Dragon. It sold so much merchandise, the Cartoon Network show had such a strong premiere….. and yet, that didn’t translate into fantastic box office number, now did it? Sure, it didn’t bomb, but this is an industry that cannot be predicted.
How to train your dragon was not part of an enormous 37 year old franchise that has held a world-wide, ever-expanding fan base during that whole time… Invalid comparison.
I’m not so excited about all these spinoff films. With more Star Wars films, the average quality of the franchise will go down. Sure, we’ll get more galaxy far, far away content, but too much of a good thing is not so good..(I’m a 90s kid who grew up with the PT, so there are two beloved SW trilogies in my heart)
Agree Zoe. I love the prequel trilogy for the fact that it DIDN’T feel obligated to imitate the Original films. It took risks and told a different type of story in the galaxy far far away. I can only the hope the sequel trilogy will do the same thing.
As for the Boba Fett movie, Disney should make a TV movie about him, but not a spinoff theatrical. Disney should be using theatrical films to make the Star Wars galaxy BIGGER, not shrink it by revisiting characters that have been shown before. And to be honest, I never thought Fett was that great of a character.
Not necessarily. It’s all about management. More Marvel movies have been produced in the past six years than in the previous six. If you look at the movies made before the MCU was started, you’ll notice that a ton of them (Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Elektra, Ghost Rider, Spider-Man 3, X-Men: The Last Stand) got a highly mixed to negative response. After the MCU began, almost every movie that Marvel Studios has been involved with has been critically-acclaimed.
As long as Kathleen Kennedy can be for Star Wars as to what Kevin Feige is for Marvel, I think we’re in good hands.
To a casual marvel fan, sure. They’re general moviegoer friendly. Ask a more hardcore fan, and the opinion may be different. Do you want new Star Wars movies that are flashy with little substance? I think the franchise as a whole will lose credibility.
Just because a film is “critically acclaimed” that doesn’t mean you have to like it.
Other than Iron Man I, I couldn’t care less about ANY other Marvel film that’s come out in recent years, for instance. Most I’ve found entertaining, but certainly nothing memorable, and screw what critics may have said about them.
So I totally agree with Zoe’s comment: too much SW will water down the franchise. It’s a simple general rule: quantity does not translate to quality.
Agree 100 percent I would much rather see a spin off about Obi Wan immediately following the fall of the Republic leading all the way up to the events of The New Hope, and I also have never really understood the hype around Bobba Fett as a 90’s kid, I realize that the whole bounty hunter thing is appealing to people, but a spinoff movie centered around obi-wan or Han is much more appealing to me since they are such major characters
Hes really not that appealing of a character. Hes a bounty hunter. T o make him a hero, all you gotta do is have someone hire him to protect somebody/rescue them. But thats what Han solo essentially did.
There is no money in making a Star Wars movie about somebody no one has ever heard of.
Sure, people will go, but on nowhere near the numbers that they would for a movie about a known character.
That being said, I don’t know why they aren’t making a Solo movie where Fett is the main antagonist. Two birds with one stone and you don’t have to worry about showing Fett’s face or how to make him a good guy.
Tell that to JK Rowling and Warner Bros with their upcoming Newt Scamander film. Most HP geeks are extremely excited for it, and casual fans I’ve talked to are at the very least intrigued. I think it will be very successful.
And HP geeks will see it, just like an obsessed Star Wars fan would see anything labeled Star Wars at the box office.
Doesn’t mean it would make anywhere near as much money as an established character.
I would not want Solo recast. It’s not worth it. I hope they don’t make a movie on him.
It’s possible that Kasdan was the intended writer for the Fett film, but was pulled away from the project when J.J. began to work with him on editing and re-writing Arndt’s script. Maybe Whitta was his replacement? I haven’t seen any of his films, but Telltale’s The Walking Dead storyline is phenomenal. So here’s to hoping…
In regards to whether we need to see Fett’s face, a great example of how it’s not necessary was Dredd. Not exactly a financial success but fans of Judge Dredd seemed to be happy with it. Also, Dredd is a morally ambiguous kind of chap and fans still manage to get behind him. Let’s face it (no pun intended) Star Wars has such a huge fan base across the world that there are enough people who will go see this movie just for its association to the SW universe. I’m not sure that it matters if they don’t look under the mask. Personally I hope they don’t ever again. Let’s have some of the mystery back!
Then they make Boba’s movie a love story LOOOOL.
First, I hope Whitta is writing something else since he has expressed dislike for the character and something tells me if he doesn’t like Fett as he is, I wouldn’t like what he would turn him into.
Second, I get the impression Disney would like to do something with Boba Fett as they have clearly heard the fans’ desire here but they don’t know what to do yet. I doubt he will be one of the standalone films as a result. But I do think there is really good chance they may do a Netflix series or something like what Marvel is doing.
To make a Fett movie I think it could work if it was like Dredd…a casual mission which leads us to know him better and his dirty work…keep his face under the helmet all time…the blasters hot, the rodian wine flowing…and the credits change hands…at the end of the movie it could lead to the reason why Darth Vader called him for hunting Solo…or even be just a recollected memory before Fett comes out of the Sarlaac..
I hate to be a hater when it comes to boba fett, but, enough already!! What is the deal? I just dont see. He was nothing more than a device used to get han solo to jabba the hutt and thats it. He’s dead. The pit of carkoon is busy digesting him. I’m sorry but both yoda and darth vader deserve stand alone movies before him. Those are the two they should be focused on. Long live IG-88!!!
If they want Boba to remain menacing and scary but also be the hero, all they have to do is pay attention to “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.” Blondie (Clint’s character) was a back stabbing bounty hunter that left his partner to die in the desert. He had his moments of compassion, but remained a somewhat cold, though likable, anti-hero. He just needs a “save the cat” moment or two to make us overlook his flaws enough to like him.
Dengar — “Hey, Boba! You know what you are? Just a dirty son of a b…!”
I do not want Boba Fett movie.
I want something new.
Boba Fett movie will flop.
Who cares for Boba Fett…..
Apparently more than enough to make Disney think about a spinoff. 🙂
I am not sure why so many of you can not get over Fett. He is just not that interesting. My hope is that they do not devote an entire movie to this dull character. cool suit but fucking boring as a character.
Gina Careno would make a fantastic Boba Fett for the 21st century.
Boba Fett Is a man & should stay that way.
It’s a shame when such nonsense notions need be taken seriously. Hopefully the 22nd century will do better.
Have you seen Gina Careno in Haywire?
To make him a sympathetic character all they need to do is start the movie off with Fett on a bounty mission against others bounty hunters. He tracks down the target but in return ends up having a bounty put on his head because his target is connected to someone high up–now the story of the movie is all of these other bounty hunters coming after him and Fett fighting all of them off. He can still be ruthless and vicious and all the things that people like about him–but we will also root for him at the same time, Just an idea…
I think if they want to make a Boba Fett movie, why not just make him the main villain in that movie? Why do you have to make him a hero? We don’t need to see him without his helmet and go into his thoughts and make him a deep character. Just make the movie about Han Solo let’s say and have Boba Fett as the villain. Two birds with one stone…
Do you really want a recasted Han Solo? Really think about it.
I for one am open to the idea of seeing Han recasted. If the actor looks enough like him and can capture the essence of the character, I’m game.
I’m the OP, i just was using Han as an example. My point is just have a movie focusing around another character or group of people and just have Fett as the villain. That way you have a movie about 2 people. And No, for the record I do not want to see a Han Solo movie lol
Rene L. Santiago.
DARK HORSE COMICS.
These little side-movies are not interesting to me. It is a cash grab by the studio. Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should.
How about just concentrating on putting together a trilogy?
They are trying to do wayyyyyyy too much, and the reason is money, money, money.
They can make the movie like a PG-13 version of Man on Fire or The Punisher. Hunting down bounties.
Anyone else having trouble with this site not working properly? This site just isn’t show up properly when I load it!
Send me an email with your issues.
OMG really…….
I so hope they don’t waste my time with a Boba Fett spin off!!!!!!!
We already know his story…….
I would rather know more about Yoda!!!!!!!
That would be worse.
Actually, apart from what he did in ESB, the little tidbits of his youth filled in by TCW, we know next to nothing about Fett or his later career as a bounty hunter.
Especially since the EU has been given the non-canon stamp.
Besides, about that “wasting your time”, who’se making you watch?
A complete chronical of the life and times of a Jawa. Yes why not, a lost Jawa that goes planet to planet meeting other Jawas throughout the galaxy. The Jawa could have met up droid and travels trying to find his tribe and has to find an owner for the droid. In the end the Jawa finds his tribe on Tatooine excavating a Corellian ship.
I would watch that.
Great article Echo-07.
Maybe Boba Fett movie is not written by Kasdan in the end, as his role in episode VII is more important than expected, penning the script with Abrams and probably involved in the shooting.
Well I don’t care what the rest say, I do want a Boba Fett movie!
You see, the primary focus of the trilogies centers on the old Good vs Evil traditional stuff, while one about him would add more to the overall SW universe. Like him or hate him, you know its going to happen, Disney have put too much money up for all the iconography, and his trademark helmet and gear would translate into merchandising quite nicely for them.
As much as we’d all probably like to see new stories with brand new characters, Disney probably feel the need to use the existing iconic SW trademarks as everyone recognises them instantly (the falcon, vader, stormtroopers, yoda, fett etc) these are always going to be a safer bet than new inventions that might not prove popular.
Also what to bear in mind would be that a fett movie would give them a chance to feature Vader in it too (another icon) afterall, he’s dead when it comes to Ep7+ so they’ll be wanting chances to flaunt the trademark too. In a spinoff movie set between Ep3-4 (in his early career) it’d give them plenty of scope for such like cameos (and don’t forget jabba too!)
I think the most clues will be planted in the new monthly Marvel Comics since they are branching out with character headlining solo titles. The novels seem to be stagnant in terms of release scheduling for this new universe. Only a handful are coming out at a time which is good for quality control but you aren’t given enough source material in a short period of time to draw any conclusions regarding hints to the film’s direction. They are working with a clean slate continuity wise in the expanded fiction. I use the term continuity and Marvel in the loosest way possible.
Or it could be as cliched as another familiar Star Wars plot device, also used in many Marvel characters titles, Fett transfers his spirit to the next clone body each time he is killed. You have the Clone Trooper concept already in effect and then the use of a Dark Side user/Sith who initiates the transfer. This is infinitely stupid however, I could see Marvel writing a plot like this and Disney signing off on it.
They called Avengers 2: Age of Ultron, after an awful Marvel crossover event for christs sake.
these characters are not interesting enough on their own…Star Wars is a space opera. It is a “sum-of-its-parts” success.
The only character arc that is interesting enough is Luke. That is why he has all of the screen time. Not even Han would be that interesting as a solo movie when Ford was younger. Ford, admittedly talks about how Solo is the most one dimensional character he’d ever played. He calls him a one-note song.
There is not enough depth there. There is a reason why Lucas condensed and only picked the best parts to make the OT.
Disney is going to milk Star Wars until there is nothing left. You watch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYuqfy2IkAg