Tag: Temuera Morrison

Posted on in Features

What Can We Expect Next From Live-Action ‘Star Wars’?

With the second season of The Mandalorian winding-down, we won’t likely have any new live-action Star Wars until possibly next fall. So, I figured I would give a rundown of what other live-action projects are in the works from Disney+ shows to feature films in various stages of development.

BOBA FETT SERIES: Deadline reported last month that a secret Boba Fett project for Disney+ had begun shooting without mentioning who exactly was starring, writing or directing the thing. We can only assume with Temuera Morrison now firmly in the role for The Mandalorian that this might be the incarnation that this new project tackles.

I have my own speculation that this might actually end up being Season 3 of The Mandalorian given the lack of information on who is working on it and the proximity of when Jon Favreau wanted to start shooting Season 3. While Lucasfilm can be sneaky, this would be the first time they’ve started filming a Star Wars project without us knowing who was at least writing and directing it.

At one time, Josh Trank and Simon Kinberg were developing a Boba Fett movie but the project ultimate didn’t come together after hiccups between the two making Fox’s Fantastic Four reboot. There had even been rumors that James Mangold was in talks to resurrect the series but quickly shot that down along with his involvement with Season 2 of The Mandlorian.

CASSIAN ANDOR PREQUEL SERIES: Diego Luna recently confirmed to Jimmy Kimmel that his Rogue One prequel series focusing on Cassian Andor and K-2SO has already started shooting in London with director Toby Haynes (Black Mirror). Haynes stepped in for Tony Gilroy, who may still end up directing an episode.

The cast for the Star Wars series includes Luna, Alan Tudyk, Adria Arjona, Denise Gough, Genevieve O’Reilly, Stellan Skarsgard, and Kyle Soller. Andor will skew more in the spy genre and might continue the tone established in Rogue One.

DEBORAH CHOW’S KENOBI SERIES: Ewan McGregor is officially reprising the Obi-Wan Kenobi role but as we all know uses the name Ben Kenobi while hiding out on Tatooine and overseeing the protection of Darth Vader’s son Luke Skywalker from the Empire. Lucasfilm revealed via a franchise timeline that Kenobi will take place around the time of the Corellia scenes in Solo: A Star Wars Story. The series will be directed by Deborah Chow (The Mandalorian) and there are assumptions that Joel Edgerton will return to the role of Uncle Owen along with a new actor playing a young Luke Skywalker. It’s unconfirmed if we’ll be seeing flashbacks to the Clone Wars or if Kenobi will ever go off-world at any point.

Casting announcements should be incoming shortly.

Filming according to Ewan McGregor is expected to take place this March. The locations are said to be Pinewood Studios UK and Boston, England as the Pinewood facility will have their own Volume/StageCraft which has been used frequently on The Mandalorian.

THE MANDALORIAN: A third season of The Mandalorian is expected to begin shooting at some point after there was word from showrunner and producer Jon Favreau they hoped to get filming started before the end of 2020. We had heard that Jon is expected to direct at least one episode in Season 3.

It’s also possible we could see spinoff series focusing on Katee Sackhoff’s Bo-Katan and Rosario Dawson’s Ahsoka Tano. Those have yet to be announced despite the fan assumptions.

LESLYE HEADLAND’S MYSTERY STAR WARS SERIES: Leslye Headland (Russian Doll) is officially working on a new female-centric Star Wars series that according to Deadline would include martial arts elements and take place at a different point in the Star Wars timeline.

Adding to the confusion is the fact that Disney+ is developing a female-centered Star Wars series, written and showrun by Leslye Headland, believed to be a female-driven action thriller with martial arts elements and set in an alternate timeline from the usual Star Wars universe. The rumored spinoff is said to be separate from this Star Wars project but the situation is fluid.

There has been plenty of speculation of what the show could be or who it could focus on but no details have been confirmed by Lucasfilm or Disney.

I’m sure we’ll learn more about the series soon.

RIAN JOHNSON’S BRAND-NEW STAR WARS TRILOGY: Star Wars: The Last Jedi writer/director Rian Johnson has been developing his own original trilogy for the studio but looks to be more focused on his Knives Out sequel at the moment. There haven’t been much in the way of details concerning Johnson’s project but is expected to take place in another era of Star Wars with new characters. Also, there had been some talk that while Rian would oversee all three films he likely wouldn’t end up directing all them.

Here is how the official press release described the trilogy.

Lucasfilm is excited to announce that Johnson will create a brand-new Star Wars trilogy, the first of which he is also set to write and direct, with longtime collaborator Ram Bergman onboard to produce…In shepherding this new trilogy, which is separate from the episodic Skywalker saga, Johnson will introduce new characters from a corner of the galaxy that Star Wars lore has never before explored.

Johnson has also dismissed multiple claims he’s exited.

TAIKA WAITITI’S STAR WARS MOVIE: After dismissing reports of his involvement, Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi was officially announced for an upcoming theatrical Star Wars film with Krysty Wilson-Cairns (1917, Last Night in Soho) co-writing the script. This news wasn’t terribly shocking after Kathleen Kennedy suggested wanting to work with him. Taika later getting his feet wet working on Season 1 of The Mandalorian as both director and voicing the bounty hunter droid IG-11.

The Kiwi director is going to be a little busy as he’ll start shooting Marvel’s Thor: Love & Thunder soon in Sydney, Australia.

JEDI ORIGIN TRILOGY: According to Variety back in October 2019, the Game of Thrones showrunners, D.B Weiss and David Benioff, had been developing a trilogy of films that would have explored the origins of the Jedi.

Benioff and Weiss had ambitious plans to take the “Star Wars” universe in a new direction, one that would exist apart from the Skywalker family saga that comprised the franchise’s centerpiece nine-film series. The Star Wars period the pair was interested in exploring was how the Jedi came to exist. However, Lucasfilm executives and the creators begin to see their visions for the films diverge during meetings last summer.

This would have likely taken place way before eras like the Skywalker Saga, The High Republic or even The Old Republic.

However, the pair left Lucasfilm for a rather pricey deal with Netflix which seemingly squashed the project for the foreseeable future. There are new rumblings online that this project might get resurrected but it’s unofficial for the moment.

THE OLD REPUBLIC TRILOGY: BuzzFeed had once reported that Laeta Kalogridis (Avatar, Ghost In The Shell, Altered Carbon, Shutter Island) was developing a Knights of The Old Republic film that could eventually become it’s own trilogy.

A movie based on Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic — the beloved video game first released in 2003 — is currently being written by Laeta Kalogridis (Avatar, Shutter Island) for Lucasfilm, three sources close to the project told BuzzFeed News.

Kalogridis is close to finishing the first script of a potential KOTOR trilogy, according to the three sources. 

While this was never confirmed, Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy teased they’ve had internal discussions about projects in that era during a chat with MTV back in April 2019.

MTV: Knights of The Old Republic, a lot of fans wanna see that, is there any development of that?

KENNEDY: “You know, we talk about that all the time. Yes, we are developing something to look at. Right now, I have no idea where things might fall..”

There is also a film project that would see Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige get involved as a producer but there next zero official information about what and when that would be. I have to assume it’s either something already mentioned like Taika’s film or something that hasn’t been made public.

I’m sure with Disney keen to get more originals for Disney+ that we’ll likely hear about more live-action Star Wars shows in the near future.

Posted on in Television News

Jango Fett’s Origin Explained In ‘The Mandalorian’

SPOILERS AHEAD FOR CHAPTER 14 OF THE MANDALORIAN

The latest episode of The Mandalorian released back on Friday brought back Boba Fett with prequels actor Temuera Morrison playing the role and finally getting to wear the armor as well. Morrison previously playing Jango Fett and the Clone Troopers in the prequel films.

In Chapter 14, Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni seemingly restored Jango Fett and Boba Fett (by proxy) status as Mandalorians after there had been hints from the animation side that they were frauds that happened to obtain the armor. This leading fans to proclaim that neither Fetts were “real Mandalorians”. This apparently has been patched-up with some dialog in the new episode with Boba Fett revealing that his father Jango Fett was a foundling just like Din Djarin and fought in the Mandalorian Civil Wars.

DIN DJARIN: “You’re father was a foundling?

BOBA FETT: “Yes, he even fought in the Mandalorian Civil Wars.

DIN DJARIN: “Then that armor belongs to you.”

The episode also attempts some image repair on the Boba Fett character making him an effective soldier rather than the joke he was in Star Wars: The Return of Jedi and even seems a bit heroic, this likely has a lot to do with his own series.

Does this mean that both Boba Fett and Bo-Katan will become regulars on the show given that The Mandalorian title could now end up referring to all three of these characters? That remains to be seen as Deadline reported last month that a secret Boba Fett series began shooting without word who was director or even writing.

I’m slightly curious if we’ll end up seeing Bo-Katan or even Boba eventually take over the series if Mando happened to get killed-off possibly in a duel with Moff Gideon as he wields the Darksaber.

When I first exclusively reported at HN Entertainment that The Mandalorian would get a Season 2 (the first Star Wars series to get multiple seasons) I suggested that Lucasfilm could use an anthology model allowing them to pivot to different Mandalorian characters in various seasons. Given that we have zero information about this Boba Fett series and Jon Favreau hoped to begin shooting before the end of 2020, I wouldn’t be shocked if the Fett project might actually be Season 3 of The Mandalorian (only my speculation).

Posted on in Television News

SPOILERS: ‘The Mandalorian’ Chapter 14 Recap – Robert Rodriguez Directs A Fun Episode With A Pair of Familiar Faces

SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 14 OF THE MANDALORIAN AHEAD

The episode directed by Robert Rodriguez and sees the return of a pair of familiar faces.

Mando and Grogu head towards an ancient Jedi Temple on Tython (a planet from The Old Republic video game) to see if his path is meant towards that of a Jedi and if another Jedi will find/train him. They end up reaching the Seeing Stone at the top of mountain before a ship arrives that looks a lot like Boba Fett’s Slave-1 and Grogu activates the Seeing Stone reaching out into the force.

It’s indeed Temuera Morrison’s Boba Fett looking for his armor that Mando got from Cobb Vanth back on Tatooine revealing it was from his father Jango Fett and it was given to him by Mandalorians. Further revealing that Jango was a foundling and fought in the Mandalorian Civil Wars, which seemingly redeems the Fetts as true Mandalorians rather than scalawags.

Partnered with Ming-Na Wen’s Fennec Shand (confirms that Boba Fett rescued her) they threaten Grogu as Fett wants his armor back. During their chat another ship arrives but Mando can’t break Grogu’s force connection as a group of Stormtroopers land with Fett and Shand dispensing them. A second Imperial transport lands and Fett makes his way to the Razor Crest to get his armor finally we get the complete version of the bounty hunter.

As the Razor Crest is destroyed by Moff Gideon’s ship above thanks to the tracker and he releases the Dark Troopers (appear to be droids) who kidnap Grogu from the Seeing Stone but it seems like the little was able to make some contact. I’m sure everyone is curious who will ultimately reach out to find him.

The Dark Troopers were first teased in Chapter 12 but instead of having people inside the suits they seemed to be an Imperial combat droids and they also have the ability to fly because, what not? I have to assume given Din Djarin’s history with combat droids killing his parents this wasn’t done on a whim by Jon Favreau.

Fett and Shand agree to help Mando retrieve Grogu as he returns to Nevarro to ask Cara Dune’s help to spring Bill Burr’s Mayfeld from prison to help get on the Imperial ship. So it looks like in the next episode will be seeing the return of the surly Mayfeld.

The only thing that survives the ship being blown up is Mando’s beskar spear (bevii’ragir) that seemingly teases he’ll end up dueling with Moff Gideon’s Darksaber very soon. We’ve seen Mando have his ass handed to him on multiple occasions would he even be able to win a duel with Moff Gideon with his spear? Since we’ve really only seen him fight with guns?

I’ll be excited to see if this how they ultimately setup this Boba Fett spinoff series and it’s starring to look like Fennec Shand might be part of that cast as well.

Posted on in Television News

Unannounced ‘Boba Fett’ Miniseries For Disney+ Rumored To Begin Shooting This Week

Deadline is claiming that a Boba Fett miniseries is set to begin shooting this week before Season 3 of The Mandalorian.

A project that has yet to be confirmed officially by Lucasfilm or Disney.

I hear possibly a Boba Fett miniseries, would film first, starting next week, with The Mandalorian Season 3 following after a monthlong break.

We previously got confirmation that actor Temurea Morrison would be taking the Boba Fett role in Season 2 of The Mandalorian, as his New Zealand agency confirmed the part in an official CV document.

Information on this Boba Fett series is limited given that Lucasfilm hasn’t even announced it officially or who is working on it. We also don’t know if it will be following Morrison or a younger incarnation of the character before the events of the original trilogy. Daniel Logan played a younger version of Boba in the prequels and could be the right age for a series.

Josh Trank and Simon Kinberg had been developing a Boba Fett movie for Lucasfilm before the project dissolved after the hiccups at 20th Century Fox making Fantastic Four. Lucasfilm attempted a second incarnation of the Fett movie but development there stalled again leading to the studio to pivot to The Mandalorian series instead along with the other spinoff films like Solo: A Star Wars Story.

This path would seemingly echo how Ewan McGregor’s Kenobi film turned into a limited series for Disney+ with The Mandalorian’s Deborah Chow set to direct that show after film development didn’t stick.

Boba Fett is established as a clone of Jango Fett (played by Temurea Morrison) and first appeared in the Star Wars Holiday Special in the animated sequence, then appeared in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of The Jedi (also in Special Edition of A New Hope years after it’s original release). A younger live-action incarnation of Boba Fett (played by Daniel Logan) was last seen in Star Wars: Attack of The Clones.

Who exactly is directing or writing this Boba Fett project is unknown.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Television News

‘John Wick’s John Leguizamo Plays Gangster Gor Koresh In ‘The Mandalorian’ Season 2 Premiere – Plus Episode 1 Concept Art

Warning spoilers ahead for Episode 1 of the new season of The Mandalorian.

Character actor John Leguizamo (John Wick) reunites with Chef director Jon Favreau on the Season 2 premiere episode of The Mandalorian titled The Marshall. John plays the seedy gangster Gor Koresh in the opening sequence who wants Mando’s armor because of the value of it.

Also, in the episode we got confirmation that Timothy Olyphant plays Cobb Vanth, a Tatooine marshal (a nod to Justified?) that happened to acquire Boba Fett’s armor from jawas. It’s super interesting to see a live-action version of a Star Wars Legends character in the series, hopefully, we see more in the future.

Temuera Morrison showed up briefly at the end to show his face.

Here is a batch of concept art from the first episode as well.

Posted on in Television News

Temuera Morrison’s Agency Confirms He Is Playing Boba Fett In ‘The Mandalorian’ Season 2

It looks like Boba Fett’s return is now confirmed for The Mandalorian!

The credit and listing comes from a portal from Temuera Morrison’s New Zealand agency Robert Bruce Agency that links to a CV on Showcast (the latter spotted by Making Star Wars) where it clearly states his role is Boba Fett on the series. This is more official than a random website since his own agency is putting this CV together on his behalf.

This would confirm The Hollywood Reporter‘s original report from May that Morrison was playing Boba Fett.

Given Morrison’s age there is an expectation this could be a voice over role given that Boba Fett wouldn’t be pushing 60 as the timeline of the series takes place five years after the events of Star Wars: Return of The Jedi. That is unless they attempt to de-age the actor digitally.

People have suggested he would be playing Rex from Clone Wars and Rebels because he would be the right age, but this listing says the role is specifically Fett.

In May, it was reported by The Hollywood Reporter that Justified actor Timothy Olyphant joined the series and Slash Film mentioned that he filmed scenes in the Boba Fett armor suggesting the role could be playing Cobb Vanth. Some people believed this was the character approaching Fennec Shand on Tatooine at the end of The Gunslinger.

Our sources have confirmed to us that Olyphant filmed scenes wearing Boba Fett’s Mandalorian armor for the upcoming second season of The Mandalorian. 

Vanth is the self-appointed sheriff of the Tatooine-based settlement Freetown. He wears a mysterious set of Mandalorian armor that was acquired from Jawas who scavenged the wreckage of Jabba the Hutt’s sail barge shortly after the events of Return of the Jedi. 

The second season will begin airing on Disney+ starting October 30th.

Eagle-eyed fans also spotted the Boba Fett armor on the back of Mando’s speeder in the trailer.

The Mandalorian and the Child continue their journey, facing enemies and rallying allies as they make their way through a dangerous galaxy in the tumultuous era after the collapse of the Galactic Empire.

SOURCE: ROBERT BRUCE AGENCY/SHOWCAST