While Star Wars has been making waves in the realm of live-action TV after the success of The Mandalorian, not all of these new TV shows were originally destined to hit the small screen. The Star Wars franchise has become somewhat notorious for announcing new ideas, particularly movies, that have never come to fruition – especially in the aftermath of Solo: A Star Wars Story‘s disappointing box office performance in 2018. After being stuck in development for years, many of these ideas fizzle out over time, but that hasn’t been the case for all of them.
The success of The Mandalorian, Star Wars’ first live-action TV show and the flagship show of the brand-new Disney+ streaming platform in 2019, changed everything. Star Wars was able to adjust some of its existing plans to embark on a new adventure into the realm of TV, using The Mandalorian itself as a guide to how the galaxy could come alive on the small screen. Along the way, several movie ideas were turned into TV shows, for better or worse. Here are the 3 Star Wars TV shows so far that started out as movies.
The Book Of Boba Fett Became A Mandalorian Spin-Off Show
How Boba Fett’s Movie Turned Into A TV Show
The first movie to undergo a transformation into a Star Wars TV show was based on none other than Boba Fett himself. There was hope for a Boba Fett movie for years before The Mandalorian even debuted, which came to fruition when a Boba Fett anthology movie was announced by Lucasfilm shortly after Disney’s acquisition of the franchise in 2012. Unfortunately, however, this movie experienced several setbacks, most notably with its directorial issues. The movie changed hands from Josh Trank to James Mangold, but after Solo‘s box office struggle, it was ultimately canceled in 2018.
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After Temuera Morrison proved himself to be a compelling Boba Fett in The Mandalorian season 2, however, Star Wars decided to give Boba Fett his story in a TV show. The surprise announcement was made in a post-credits scene during The Mandalorian season 2 finale, promising that The Book of Boba Fett would arrive in December 2021. This made Boba Fett’s TV show the second live-action TV show to ever debut in the Star Wars franchise, following Boba Fett as he struggled to earn Mos Espa‘s respect as Jabba the Hutt and Bib Fortuna’s successor.
Was Changing This TV Show Into A Movie The Right Idea?
Ultimately, it may not have been the best decision to make this movie into a TV show. The Book of Boba Fett remains the franchise’s lowest rated live-action TV show so far, in terms of its critics score on Rotten Tomatoes. The TV show struggled in its portrayal of Boba Fett, and its titular character failed to appear for more than 2 minutes in two consecutive episodes as the show instead continued Din Djarin’s story from The Mandalorian. If this TV show had remained a movie, this likely wouldn’t have been the case, and Morrison’s Boba Fett could have shined.
Obi-Wan Kenobi Was Originally An Entire Movie Trilogy
How Obi-Wan Kenobi’s Movie Trilogy Turned Into A TV Show
Perhaps the most radically changed idea was the scrapped movie trilogy focusing on Obi-Wan Kenobi, which would have taken place during the Dark Times – the years between Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. Penned by Stuart Beattie, this Obi-Wan trilogy would have shown the Jedi’s transformation from a general of the Republic to a somewhat whimsical loner on Tatooine, and it would have involved characters such as Commander Cody, Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, and more. After The Mandalorian‘s success, however, Star Wars decided to pursue a limited series instead.
Was Changing This TV Show Into A Movie The Right Idea?
While Obi-Wan Kenobi‘s reception was generally more positive than The Book of Boba Fett‘s, this TV show still would have functioned much better as a movie trilogy, particularly because of Obi-Wan and Ewan McGregor’s own combined star power. Obi-Wan is no small name in the Star Wars franchise, something that alone makes it difficult to reduce his story to a smaller screen. The details of the original storyline for Obi-Wan’s trilogy also makes it clear that a lot of fantastic storytelling was cut out to fit this story into six episodes – and the TV show still suffered from pacing problems.
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Obi-Wan Kenobi truly needed the breathing room of a theatrical trilogy, and the elements that it cut out in favor of showing it on TV. Obi-Wan and Vader could have met more times on screen, giving their final rematch in A New Hope even more meaning, and Obi-Wan himself could have had more time to make his transformation from a lost, hopeless survivor to a hopeful, wise Jedi. The Commander Cody plot that was cut would have also been a very compelling story to follow, and it would have done Morrison his proper justice in Star Wars.
Skeleton Crew Started Out As A Big Screen Adventure
How Skeleton Crew Turned Into A TV Show
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew creator Jon Watts recently revealed that the initial pitch for this TV show was to make it a movie, though this pitch was delivered prior to Solo‘s box office disappointment – while Watts was in the midst of helming the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Spider-Man trilogy. By the time Watts was available to create this Star Wars story, the TV show era of Star Wars was in full swing, with Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian leading the charge. The franchise thus decided to move forward with this idea as a TV show instead, set within The Mandalorian era.
Was Changing This TV Show Into A Movie The Right Idea?
Seeing as Skeleton Crew has only just premiered at the time of writing, it’s hard to judge whether this was the right choice or not, but so far, it certainly seems so. Expanding Skeleton Crew into an 8-episode long TV series gives the story the proper room to develop, which is essential in a story like this – one that’s exploring Star Wars pirates in depth for the first time in the live-action realm. Given the overwhelmingly positive response to Skeleton Crew thus far, Star Wars made the right decision to take Skeleton Crew‘s young cast to the small screen instead.
Star Wars
Star Wars is a multimedia franchise that started in 1977 by creator George Lucas. After the release of Star Wars: Episode IV- A New Hope (originally just titled Star Wars), the franchise quickly exploded, spawning multiple sequels, prequels, TV shows, video games, comics, and much more. After Disney acquired the rights to the franchise, they quickly expanded the universe on Disney+, starting with The Mandalorian.
- Cast
- Mark Hamill , James Earl Jones , David Prowse , Carrie Fisher , Harrison Ford , Daisy Ridley , Adam Driver , Ian McDiarmid , Ewan McGregor , Rosario Dawson , Lars Mikkelsen , Rupert Friend , Moses Ingram , Frank Oz , Pedro Pascal
- TV Show(s)
- The Mandalorian , Andor , Obi-Wan Kenobi , The Book of Boba Fett , Ahsoka , The Acolyte , Star Wars: Skeleton Crew , Lando , Star Wars: The Clone Wars , Star Wars Rebels , Star Wars: The Bad Batch , Star Wars: Resistance , Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures , Star Wars: Visions
- Character(s)
- Luke Skywalker , Han Solo , Rey Skywalker , Emperor Palpatine / Darth Sidious , Obi-Wan Kenobi , Ahsoka Tano , Grand Admiral Thrawn , Grand Inquisitor , Reva (The Third Sister) , The Fifth Brother , The Seventh Sister , The Eighth Brother , Yoda , Din Djarin , Grogu , Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader , Leia Organa , Ben Solo/Kylo Ren