With Star Wars being one of the world’s most popular franchise, standing as the fifth highest-grossing multimedia property of all time, it goes without saying that there have been a lot of different projects in the works over the years, many of which have never seen the light of day for several unknown financial and creative reasons.
Though many of these projects fly under the radar of the public almost completely, others end up being widely publicized in the early stages of development, leaving fans disappointed, or perhaps even relieved, when one of the projects gets the ax. Here are the five best, as well as the five worst, canceled Star Wars projects to date.
10 Best: Benioff & Weiss Trilogy
While the rushed, lackluster, and highly frustrating Game of Thrones finale left something of a sour taste in the mouths of fans, there’s no denying that the prospect of a Star Wars trilogy based on the origins of the Jedi is simply too interesting to ignore.
After all, despite not nailing the landing, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss’s world-building throughout the show was second to none and applying that same treatment to the ancient, sprawling history of the Jedi could’ve been a truly unique direction for the franchise to take. Sadly, it was announced in late 2019 that the duo had left the project due to prior commitments with Netflix. Here’s hoping the project is still alive somewhere.
9 Worst: Rian Johnson Trilogy
Despite releasing one of the most divisive films of all time with Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, Disney apparently felt confident enough with Rian Johnson’s directorial efforts to attach the filmmaker to a whole new trilogy before his movie even released, which would’ve reportedly explored brand new characters and locations within the Star Wars Universe.
In fact, the trilogy still isn’t officially considered "dead," with Johnson insisting the project hasn’t been outright canceled. Still, between the mass fan outcry following The Last Jedi’s release, radio silence on Disney’s part and the studio’s plans to scale back their Star Wars releases, it seems the writing is very much on the wall.
8 Best: George Lucas’s Sequel Trilogy
When George Lucas sold the Star Wars franchise to Disney back in 2012 for a staggering $4 billion, it was soon reported that Lucas already had plans for an entire sequel trilogy, including fully formed treatments for Episodes VII, VIII, and IX.
Disney ultimately opted to scrap these plans and move in their own direction, a move that fans still bitter about Lucas’ much-maligned prequel trilogy celebrated at the time. In the wake of The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker’s poor reception, however, fans are now clamoring to find out more details on what Lucas’s trilogy would have involved. According to the man himself, the movies would have further explored the concept of the Force, including its connection to ancient, immortal beings known as the Whills.
7 Worst: Obi-Wan Kenobi Film
Following the release of both Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Disney started to settle into a rhythm of alternating their main trilogy releases with their spin-off movies. Amongst these planned spin-offs was an Obi-Wan movie starring fan-favorite, Ewan McGregor, much to the delight of fans. though their hopes were seemingly dashed when the project started to go quiet.
Though it may have seemed like a good idea at the time, a standalone Obi-Wan movie would likely have been a huge disappointment both critically and financially – after all Solo: A Star Wars Story also failed to make a splash on both counts – but as it turns out, Obi-Wan instead bagged himself a Disney+ series, which seems like a much more fitting medium to tell his story.
6 Best: Mos Eisley Spin-Off
While many of Disney’s spin-off Star Wars projects were widely talked about even before they entered the production stage, a purported movie focusing on Tatooine’s Mos Eisley Spaceport quietly made its way onto the studio’s release slate a few years back, even reserving space in Pinewood Studios for its production.
Given that the place is, as Obi-Wan puts it, a wretched hive of scum and villainy, the location is brimming with potential for dark, compelling standalone stories. Sadly, the movie was canned after the poor box office performance of Solo: A Star Wars Story.
5 Worst: Boba Fett Spin-Off
When it comes to the character of Boba Fett, it’s become something of a common criticism that the character is nowhere near as cool on screen as he’s been built up to be by fans and Expanded Universe material, and to be honest, that’s kind of true.
With that said, there was a certain degree of skepticism leveled at the idea of a new Boba Fett movie, even with talented directors like James Mangold and Josh Trank attached to the project. Eventually, the series morphed into the acclaimed Disney+ series The Mandalorian, which was probably a smart move on Disney’s part. The show is allowing them to tell the story of a mysterious Mandalorian while keeping the mystery of Boba Fett intact.
4 Best: Star Wars: Underworld
One of many Star Wars stories set in the period between Episode III and Episode IV, Star Wars: Underworld was a live-action television project that was reportedly set in the criminal underworld of Coruscant, allowing the show to explore a whole host of new, morally gray characters, and was even being described as “Deadwood in space.”
The series was very well fleshed out, at least conceptually speaking, with over 50 scripts for the show having been written, in addition to reams of concept art. The show was eventually shelved in 2010 due to budget issues, but given its darker, more mature tone, it’s highly unlikely that Disney would ever greenlight a revival of the project.
3 Worst: Star Wars Detours
Unlike many other entries on this list, Star Wars Detours was pretty much a finished project when it was abandoned by Disney in 2012, with 39 episodes reportedly being finished, and 62 further scripts having been written.
The show was a computer-animated comedy series that served as a parody of the franchise, with Robot Chicken creators Seth Green and Matthew Senreich teaming up with George Lucas for the project. It was initially conceived with the idea of drawing new audiences into the Star Wars Universe, with the likes of Anthony Daniels, Dee Bradley Baker, Donald Faison, Felicia Day, Zachary Levi, and Billy Dee Williams having voice roles in the show. While it’s a shame that so much hard work went to waste, the few clips of the show that have since surfaced don’t appear to be all that funny, and its art style is strangely off-putting.
2 Best: Star Wars 1313
Another project that was significantly far along in development before it was scrapped (by Disney yet again), Star Wars 1313 was a video game set to put players in the boots of Boba Fett, as he traverses Level 1313 of Coruscant’s underworld. The game was also set to tie-in with the Star Wars: Underworld series, serving as a more adult take on the franchise.
The game was one of the most anticipated Star Wars projects of all time and not even the success of last year’s tremendous Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order is enough to take the sting out of 1313’s untimely demise.
1 Worst: Jabba the Hutt Spin-Off
Out of the many spin-offs considered following Disney’s acquisition of Star Wars in 2012, the one revolving around the grotesque crime lord Jabba the Hutt is perhaps the strangest. While it didn’t make it far into production, Guillermo Del Toro was reportedly interested in developing a "Godfather-like" mafia saga involving Jabba that chronicled the character’s tumultuous rise to power.
Considering Jabba can barely move and is hardly the most likable character, it would’ve been interesting to see how this idea played out, but all in all, it’s probably best that this project remains dead.
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