Director Robert Rodriguez is in high demand these days after helming Alita: Battle Angel for James Cameron, then jumping into the world of Star Wars with Season 2 of The Mandalorian and then being behind the Boba Fett spinoff series The Book of Boba Fett for Lucasfilm.
His next big project is an action thriller, titled Hypnotic, that stars Ben Affleck as a “detective who becomes entangled in a mystery involving his missing daughter and a secret government program while investigating a string of high-end crimes.”
Deadline has a casting update mentioning that Brazilian actress Alice Braga has taken a role in the film. Braga has a connection to Rodriguez as she had a lead role in Predators, the third film in the Predator franchise was developed and produced by the filmmaker. Her other credits include I Am Legend, Repo Men, New Mutants, Queen of The South, and James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad.
They also state that production will begin again on September 20 in Austin, Texas, where Robert’s own studio facility, Troublemaker Studios, is located.
Affleck is currently working on The Flash, reprising his Batman/Bruce Wayne role alongside fellow Caped Crusader alumni Michael Keaton. He also wrapped work on the George Clooney-directed drama The Tender Bar.
As today is Star Wars day, May The 4th, I decided to rundown all the upcoming live-action projects in the works over at Lucasfilm and what we know about them.
THE BOOK OF BOBA FETT: Originally confused with the third season of The Mandalorian, the Boba Fett series will continue the adventures of Temuera Morrison’s Fett and Ming-Na Wen’s wonderful Fennec Shand. In a post-credit scene in Season 2 of The Mandalorian, the pair return to Tatooine and assassinate Bib Fortuna at Jabba’s Palace. It’s unknown officially if we’ll see Boba take a kingpin role within the criminal underworld or will be slightly more heroic.
A Boba Fett movie had been in the works with Simon Kinberg and Josh Trank, but the studio ultimately killed it and instead decided to make The Mandalorian allowing them to insert Boba Fett in the second season because of where the shows take place in the timeline.
At one time, Guillermo del Toro pitched a gangster project to Yahoo! during an interview featuring Jabba that was described as a Godfather saga in the Star Wars universe.
DEL TORO: “I would do the sort of Godfather saga that Jabba the Hutt had to go through to gain control. One, because it’s the character that looks the most like me, and I like him. I love the idea of a Hutt type of mafia, a very complex coup. I just love the character.”
It’s possible The Book of Boba Fett could end up being a revised version of that idea and we could see more of the criminal elements as The Mandalorian sort of abandoned low-level criminal threats when Grogu came into the picture and Imperial baddies became more the focus.
Producing will be Robert Rodriguez, Jon Favreau, and Dave Filoni. They secured Emmy-winning production designer Andrew Jones (The Mandalorian) with filming taking place in California giving them access to The Volume/StageCraft. We are hearing the producing team will also act as directors on the series as well with at least 7-episodes.
It’s seemingly set to debut on Disney+ in December.
ANDOR: A prequel to Rogue One: A Story Wars Story, the project will focus on Diego Luna’s Rebellion spy character Cassian Andor. Production had been taking place in the United Kingdom with Toby Haynes (Sherlock, Doctor Who, Utopia, Black Mirror) taking on directing duties from Tony Gilroy after the pandemic made things difficult, who was also working on scripts. Gilroy famously was brought-on to write and direct extensive reshoots on Rogue One.
Joining Diego Luna will be Adria Arjona (Morbius), Denise Gough, Genevieve O’Reilly as Mon Mothma, Stellan Skarsgard (Thor, Dune, Girl With The Dragon Tattoo), Fiona Shaw, and Kyle Soller. However, it sounds like K-2SO won’t be appearing in the first season according to actor Alan Tudyk giving the impression that we’ll be getting a Season 2 of Andor. This was a little puzzling as he was announced as being a cast member originally alongside Luna and would suggest that his role was scaled-back in rewrites.
It’s supposed to debut on Disney+ in 2022.
OBI-WAN KENOBI: Like Boba Fett, Lucasfilm had been trying to develop a Kenobi feature film that was abandoned for a 6-episode series on Disney+ instead. The Mandalorian’s Deborah Chow is directing with a crew such as cinematographer and production designer Todd Cherniawsky (Avatar, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Star Trek: Picard).
The story begins 10 years after the dramatic events of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith where Kenobi faced his greatest defeat, the downfall and corruption of his best friend and Jedi apprentice, Anakin Skywalker turned evil Sith Lord Darth Vader.
We’ll see at least four prequel actors return with Ewan McGregor as Ben Kenobi, Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, Joel Edgerton as Uncle Owen, and Bonnie Piesse as Aunt Beru. The show’s new additions are Indira Varma (Game of Thrones), Kumail Nanjiani (Eternals), Sung Kang (F9, Tokyo Drift), O’Shea Jackson Jr. (Godzilla: King of The Monsters), Benny Safdie (Good Time), Rupert Friend, Moses Ingram, and Simone Kessell.
While Obi-Wan is known as spending most of the time between Star Wars: Revenge of The Sith and Star Wars: A New Hope wondering Tatooine as a hermit, it sounds like the series will be a little more exciting than that and we’ll see other locations. Ewan McGregor has teased extensive training for lightsaber battles which would expose himself as a Jedi Knight if he did this publicly on Tatooine and also hinted Kenobi could be going off-world.
MCGREGOR: “There’s a hunger for this character to come back. The fans have been waiting long enough, you know? We start on Tatooine, and we go on a rollicking adventure.”
We’re expecting that a young Luke Skywalker will appear in the show given the era and that his Uncle/Aunt are confirmed.
The return of Darth Vader could mean we’ll see more action sequences with the baddie or Kenobi having to tangle with Inquisitors as it could explain the training McGregor has been undergoing, unless we’ll see flashbacks to battles during the Clone Wars. In Rogue One, one of the big highlights was seeing Darth Vader unleashed against a group of Rebels and the series could give Lucasfilm an excuse to shoot another action sequences with the Sith villain.
It’s not confirmed if Liam Neeson’s Qui-Gon Jinn will show up in some capacity, but Liam has revealed he would be open to return for the Disney+ series. However, the rumor of Jar Jar Binks making a return was debunked by actor Ahmed Best on Twitter.
THE MANDALORIAN – SEASON 3: The finale of Season 2 ended with uncanny valley Luke Skywalker saving the group from the Dark Trooper droids and agreed to train Grogu. We also see Din Djarin beat Moff Gideon in a duel earning the Darksaber making him the new leader of Mandalore which should develop into some conflict with Bo-Katan.
Lead actor Pedro Pascal will be busy over the summer as he’ll be playing Joel in HBO’s series adaptation of the Naughty Dog video game The Last of Us, which will be filming in Calgary, Alberta, Canada making things a little complicated if he’ll be needed on set of The Mandalorian.
I wouldn’t be shocked if the show won’t return on Disney+ until late 2022 as The Book of Boba Fett seemingly took it’s production schedule last fall.
AHSOKA: A spinoff of The Mandalorian, as revealed in Ahsoka Tano’s episode the former Jedi is searching for Grand Admiral Thrawn. While there has been plenty of fan speculation that other characters from the animation side will appear in the show that has yet to be confirmed.
After making her long awaited live-action debut in The Mandalorian, Ahsoka Tano’s story, written by Dave Filoni, will continue in a limited series starring Rosario Dawson and executive produced by Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau.
RANGERS OF THE NEW REPUBLIC: Like Ahsoka, the project takes place within the same timeline of The Mandalorian and will likely feature a handful of characters we’ve already been introduced to. Cara Dune would have been shoe-in before Lucasfilm fired Gina Carano, but we don’t know if they’ll recast the role or pivot to a new character instead.
Set within the timeline of The Mandalorian, this new live-action series from executive producers Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni will intersect with future stories and culminate into a climactic story event.
I have to imagine that Bill Burr’s sharpshooter Migs Mayfeld and Paul Sun-Hyung Lee’s Captain Carson Teva could be part of the show’s lineup. Paul’s CBC comedy series Kim’s Convenience recently ended allowing him to commit to other shows like Rangers of The New Republic.
THE ACOLYTE: The Disney+ series from Russian Doll’s Leslye Headland is said to be taking place during The High Republic, the new era of Star Wars that will be explored heavily in new publications of both novels and comic books.
The Acolyte is a mystery-thriller that will take the audience into a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging dark side powers in the final days of the High Republic era.
LANDO: Referred to as an “event series” suggesting it will be a one-off like Obi-Wan Kenobi, Lando will be developed and written by Dear White People’s Justin Simien. Justin had recently been hired to direct Disney’s new Haunted Mansion movie based on the theme park ride and it’s unclear if they’ve signed-on Donald Glover to reprise the role as he’s got a bunch of projects in the works thanks to his deal with Amazon, including a Mr. & Mrs. Smith series with Solo: A Star Wars Story co-star Phoebe Waller-Bridge.
ROGUE SQUADRON: In December, it was officially announced that the next big movie, Rogue Squadron, is set to be released on December 2023 and will be directed by Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman, Monster). Jenkins will be the first female director to helm a Star Wars film.
The next Star Wars feature film will be Rogue Squadron — directed by Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman franchise). The story will introduce a new generation of starfighter pilots as they earn their wings and risk their lives in a boundary-pushing, high-speed thrill-ride, and move the saga into the future era of the galaxy.
JENKINS: “[In the Star Wars: Rogue Squadron movie] we’re doing something original with great influence from the games and the books. There’s a lot of things being acknowledged and understood about the greatness of all of those things, but yes, it’s an original story and I’m so psyched to do it.”
Other feature films in the works include one from director Taika Watiti (Thor: Love & Thunder, Jojo Rabbit, Thor: Rangrok) that seemingly lost co-writer Krysty Wilson-Cairns (1917, Last Night In Soho) as her name was missing from Lucasfilm’s press release from December.
Rian Johnson continues to state in interviews that his original Star Wars trilogy is happening even though he recently signed-on to direct two Knives Out sequels for Netflix and is working with Natasha Lyonne on a new mystery series called Poker Face for Peacock.
Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige is also said to be producing his own feature with Michael Waldron (Rick & Morty, Loki, Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness) writing it.
In 2020, it was revelaed by The Hollywood Reporter that J.D. Dillard (Devotion, Sleight) and Matt Owens (Luke Cage, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) would be co-writing a movie, but we haven’t any real updates on the project. Dillard is currently shooting the Korean War pic Devotion starring Jonathan Majors and Glen Powell. He was also in talks to direct a remake of The Fly.
Lastly, an unconfirmed report from BuzzFeed claimed that the studio tasked screenwriter Laeta Kalogridis (Altered Carbon, Shutter Island, Avatar, Ghost In The Shell, Alita: Battle Angel) to pen an adaptation of Knights of The Old Republic (a potential “trilogy”) and studio head Kathleen Kennedy confirmed to MTV News it’s an era they’ve been talking about exploring internally. I’m curious with the talk of video game remake in the works if they’ll attempt to expand upon The Old Republic in a similar manner as they are with The High Republic.
At the end of Season 2 of The Mandalorian, it was announced that The Book of Boba Fett would be a new Star Wars series coming to Disney+ and this led to Lucasfilm revealing that The Mandalorian Season 3 would be delayed. There had been confusion as the Fett project seemingly took over the production schedule that was likely meant for The Mandalorian.
The spinoff project would see Temuera Morrison and Ming-Na Wen reprise their respective roles of Boba Fett and Fennec Shand. It’s also being produced by Robert Rodriguez, Jon Favreau, and Dave Filoni with the assumption they’ll end up directing episodes.
Well, it sounds like a familiar Mandalorian might be popping-up in the show after all.
Earlier in the week, Cinelinx reported that Pedro Pascal’s Din Djarin is expected to appear in some capacity on the Disney+ series. Although, details are a bit scarce along with the how much we’ll end up seeing him.
The Book of Boba Fett has just about wrapped filming (if it hasn’t already) and details on the story/set have been ridiculously tight. That said, I’ve heard word from a couple of independent sources that at least one other familiar “face” from The Mandalorian will make an appearance: Din Djarin.
There is an expectation that The Mandalorian Season 3 won’t be filming anytime soon as with The Book of Boba Fett finishing up filming, Obi-Wan Kenobi is officially set to begin production in the California production space sometime this month. Pedro Pascal is also locked-in to shoot HBO’s The Last of Us series over the summer in Calgary.
It’ll be interesting to see how exactly Mando figures into The Book of Boba Fett and if it will to plant seeds for other projects set in the Mandalorian timeline.
The Ronin can confirm that Andrew Jones, the production designer of The Mandalorian Season 1-2 will be returning to the Star Wars universe for The Book of Boba Fett. The series is said to be currently filming in California and according to Lucasfilm/Disney, will be debut this December on Disney+.
Jones won an Emmy last year for his work on the first season of The Mandalorian.
Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, and Robert Rodriguez are executive producing the series that stars Tamuera Morrison as Boba Fett and Ming-Na Wen as Fennec Shand. It’s expected the trio of producers will also be directing episodes.
The Book of Boba Fett will be set within the timeline of The Mandalorian and star Temuera Morrison as the titular bounty hunter, along with Ming-Na Wen as Fennec Shand. Robert Rodriguez — who directed Chapter 14 of The Mandalorian, a thrilling installment that reintroduced Boba Fett to the Star Wars galaxy — joins Favreau and Dave Filoni as executive producer.
We’ll be excited to see what the cast ends up looking like.
Comic book writer Gail Simone (Red Sonja, Deadpool, Birds of Prey, Wonder Woman, Domino) has taken to Twitter to reveal that Conan The Barbarian actor Jason Momoa (Aquaman, Game of Thrones) once wanted her to write a treatment for a potential crossover film featuring Jason’s Conan and Rose McGowan’s Red Sonja. The project never actually written but seemed kind of interesting since there were plans for a new Red Sonja film before the Conan reboot was released.
The film rights to both Conan and Red Sonja had been acquired by the same production company Millennium Films (formerly known as Nu Image) around this time, in theory, a crossover could have happened.
At the time, Rose was attached to the Red Sonja reboot with Robert Rodriguez set produce, the project had been promoted at San Diego Comic-Con 2008 with mock-up posters/teaser images. She had recently worked with Robert on the his Grindhouse installment Planet Terror playing the film’s leading heroine Cherry Darling. It played in theaters as a double-feature with Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof, which also featured Rose in the small supporting role of Pam. McGowan ended up with a role in 2011’s Conan The Barbarian playing a witch villain named Marique in heavy special effects makeup.
SIMONE: “Jason Momoa wanted me to write a Conan/Red Sonja treatment for a movie crossover featuring him as Conan and Rose McGowan as Sonja. Nothing came of it, but it would have been a blast to do. He pitched me the whole idea while we were in a van through a city in New Zealand (can’t remember which). He’s just a very enthusiastic, lovely guy and I liked him immediately.”
He pitched me the whole idea while we were riding in a van through a city in New Zealand (can't remember which). He's just a very enthusiastic, lovely guy and I liked him immediately.
Conan The Barbarian didn’t connect with audiences, so there was never sequel made and Jason Momoa eventually landed his supporting part as Khal Drogo in HBO’s hit fantasy series Game of Thrones. That success on television led to him landing the Aquaman role in Warner Bros’ DC Comics franchise. More recently, Netflix has acquired the rights to Robert E. Howard’s Conan allowing them to make films, television shows, and animated projects.
Robert Rodriguez’s incarnation of Red Sonja never actually came together as the filmmaker instead pivoted to producing 20th Century Fox’s Predators and other subsequent things like taking over directing duties on James Cameron’s Alita: Battle Angel. A newer version of Red Sonja had Millennium Films hire disgraced X-Men franchise director Bryan Singer before he was ultimately replaced with Transparent’s Jill Soloway in the summer of 2019. However, it’s been a couple of years since Jill’s announcement and unclear if it will ever get made.
Robert Rodriguez is working on yet another new project!
Deadline reports that Robert has signed-on to write and direct a reboot of his Spy Kids franchise for Skydance Media and Spyglass Media. Robert attempted a soft-reboot of sorts with Spy Kids: All The Time In The World but Carmen and Juni still appeared connecting it to the previous three movies, it’s unknown if this will be another hard-reboot or expansion simply with a new family/kids.
Rodriguez is also working on is the Star Wars series The Book of Boba Fett, a spinoff set in The Mandalorian timeline starring Temuera Morrison and Ming-Na Wen that is said to be currently filming California for debut on Disney+ in December 2021. He wrapped the BenAffleck thriller Hypnotic and recently got a sequel to We Can Be Heroes greenlit by Netflix.
SPY KIDS – Two young kids become spies in attempt to save their parents, who are ex-spies, from an evil mastermind. Armed with a bag of high tech gadgets and out-of-this world transportation, Carmen (Alexa Vega) and Juni (Daryl Sabara) will bravely jet through the air, dive under the seas and crisscross the globe in a series of thrilling adventures on a mission to save their parents … and maybe even the world.
Fans of Alita: Battle Angel have been hoping that with Disney taking over 20th Century Studios they’d end up landing sequel given the built-in franchise potential of the sci-fi movie adapted from the Japanese manga. The James Cameron project had been always envisioned as a trilogy as the source material allowed for that to happen.
There had been some optimistic comments from producer Jon Landau about a sequel last year talking with CinemaBlend.
LANDAU: “Absolutely. … When Jim [Cameron] was going to direct us, which he was at point, in his mind he had plotted out two additional stories of where we would go very specifically.“
“Well, I won’t speak specifically about Alita. I would just tell you that I think Jim [Cameron] and I love the opportunities that streaming and these other avenues of distribution are offering people today. And you know, we would love to get into those playgrounds and play in them, no matter what the title is.“
Now while speaking with Forbes to promote his Netflix film We Can Be Heroes, director Robert Rodriguez revealed he’d be open to make a Alita: Battle Angel sequel even if it landed at Disney+ as Robert has an established with Disney/Disney+ via The Mandalorian and the upcoming series The Book of Boba Fett.
RODRIGUEZ: “I think anything is possible. Disney bought Fox, and they have Disney+, so that is worth the conversation. I know other people would love to see another, and I would love to do another one. As far as where it would go or how it would be made, I think streaming has opened up many opportunities such as sequels. It’s already a pre-sold concept, it’s already got a built-in audience that wants to see it, and then it’s delivered to them in a way that’s the easiest for them to consume. So, it’s not a bad idea.”
As far we know, there aren’t plans at Disney/20th Century to make any new Alita project but it’s worth mentioning that Rodriguez is busy with his Star Wars series The Book of Boba Fett currently shooting along with his Ben Affleck thriller Hypnotic on the horizon.
I personally enjoyed the film even in the final third act spent most of that time setting up a sequel instead having a standalone conclusion. Hopefully, something comes together eventually given the first installment ended on a cliffhanger and introducing Edward Norton‘s Nova as a main antagonist.
The Mandalorian creator and producer Jon Favreau appeared on Good Morning America to make a special announcement.
At the end of the Season 2 finale of The Mandalorian, Lucasfilm announced that The Book of Boba Fett expected to star Temuera Morrison and Ming-Na Wen with it to begin airing on Disney+ in December 2021. We saw the pair arrive at Jabba’s Palace on Tatooine to assassinate an older Bib Fortuna with Boba Fett taking over the kingpin’s throne (a nod to Conan The Barbarian) suggesting that the series may explore the criminal syndicates of the Star Wars universe’s underworld, not just bounty hunting.
Jon revealing that The Book of Boba Fett will shoot first and then they’ll move into Season 3 of The Mandalorian. Also, Disney confirming Robert Rodriguez is involved on the producing team joining Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni.
Favreau also alluded to Pedro Pascal will return for Season 3 of The Mandalorian.
The Book of Boba Fett, a new Original Series, starring Temuera Morrison and Ming-Na Wen and executive produced by Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni and Robert Rodriguez, set within the timeline of The Mandalorian, is coming to @DisneyPlus Dec. 2021. pic.twitter.com/JP54yEe9WF
Deadline first reported that filming on the project has started weeks ago.
We’ve heard for over a week that Robert was being courted to lead his own Star Wars series and will be heavily involved with the show.
Only a matter of time before Danny Trejo is announced for a Star Wars role.
Other Disney+ projects set in the Star Wars universe on the horizon include Diego Luna’s Andor (currently filming in London), Deborah Chow’s Obi-Wan Kenobi starring Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen (set to begin shooting in March), Rangers of The New Republic, Rosario Dawson’s Ahsoka series, Leslye Headland’s High Republic show The Acolyte, and another show featuring the iconic character Lando.
Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins is also directing the next Star Wars film Star Wars: Rogue Squadron coming to theaters on December 22, 2023.
Here is the press release for the project from Lucasfilm.
Boba Fett is back. And his story is just beginning.
As teased in a surprise end-credit sequence following the season finale of The Mandalorian, the legendary bounty hunter’s journey will continue in The Book of Boba Fett. Jon Favreau, executive producer of The Mandalorian, confirmed today on Good Morning America that the new series is currently in production and will arrive December 2021, only on Disney+.
The Book of Boba Fett will be set within the timeline of The Mandalorian and star Temuera Morrison as the titular bounty hunter, along with Ming-Na Wen as Fennec Shand. Robert Rodriguez — who directed Chapter 14 of The Mandalorian, a thrilling installment that reintroduced Boba Fett to the Star Wars galaxy — joins Favreau and Dave Filoni as executive producer.
Boba Fett made his big-screen debut in 1980’s Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, becoming an instant fan favorite thanks to his visually arresting armor and cool demeanor. Jeremy Bulloch, the original actor inside the armor, passed away last week — but his legacy, including all he brought to Boba Fett, goes on. The Book of Boba Fett will carry that legacy forward.
Season 3 of The Mandalorian will go into production next year.
Despite Robert Rodriguez’s original intention to shoot his next film Hypnotic in California, the film starring Ben Affleck is instead reportedly heading to Austin, Texas.
Even though Texas has become a new hot-spot in the United States for coronavirus, the Austin Chronicle is reporting that the Affleck project is going to attempt to begin shooting next month in the state at Robert’s Troublemaker Studios facility located in East Austin around July 27th.
The high-end estimates of Hypnotic’s budget are said to be in the range of $80 million. However, with the explosion of new cases in Texas, I wouldn’t be shocked if the shoot is delayed beyond the summer. Production was originally planned to begin in late April.
The film’s script was penned by Rodriguez and Monsterverse screenwriter Max Borenstein (Godzilla, Kong: Skull Island, Godzilla: King of The Monsters, Godzilla vs Kong).
Ben Affleck has been set to star in Robert Rodriguez’s action-thriller Hypnotic, playing a detective who, while investigating a string of impossible high-end heists, becomes entangled in a mystery involving his missing daughter and a secret government program.
Robert recently worked on the Netflix superhero film We Can Be Heroes along with directing on Season 2 of the Star Wars live-action series The Mandalorian for Lucasfilm/Disney. He also released the cyberpunk film Alita: Battle Angel last year for 20th Century Studios, the manga adaption was a collaboration with blockbuster filmmaker and producer James Cameron.
I’ve learned that cinematographer David Klein, who worked with Robert on The Mandalorian, is expected to reunite with him on Hypnotic.
If they do end up starting production this summer or fall there is a good shot that it’ll be ready for release sometime next year.
Affleck had wrapped his erotic thriller Deep Water with co-star Ana de Armas and had been shooting a smaller role in Ridley Scott’s period drama The Last Duel before the production shutdown earlier this year.
THE RONIN 
