(Left) Director Guillermo del Toro for ‘Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio.’ (Right) Jabba the Hutt in ‘Return of the Jedi.’ Photo: Lucasfilm.
Guillermo del Toro is one of those filmmakers with a list of exciting yet unmade projects that could fill a To Do list for seven directors.
There are his famous examples –– a third ‘Hellboy’ movie, Lovecraft adaptation ‘At the Mountains of Madness’ –– but those are just the tip of his probable project iceberg.
And while he’s talked up a potential ‘Star Wars’ project before (a galaxy where there are plenty of movies either in development or hovering in limbo at any one time), we now have confirmation from writer (and ‘Foundation’ showrunner) David S. Goyer that the idea of a del Toro ‘Star Wars’ movie came closer than anyone has imagined.
David S. Goyer talks his unmade Guillermo del Toro ‘Star Wars’ script.
‘Foundation’ season 2 showrunner and executive producer David S. Goyer.
Goyer stopped by the Happy Sad Confused podcast to discuss the latest season of ‘Foundation’ and more, and dropped word about the ‘Star Wars’ script he wrote with del Toro looking to direct.
Here’s what Goyer had to say:
“I wrote an unproduced ‘Star Wars’ movie that Guillermo del Toro was going to direct. It was about four years ago. It’s a cool script.”
Goyer did not go into details about what the movie might have been, but del Toro took to social media to confirm his story and to heavily hint that it would have featured Jabba the Hutt.
Guillermo del Toro’s history with ‘Star Wars’
Guillermo del Toro poses backstage with the Oscar® for Animated Feature Film during the live ABC telecast of the 95th Oscars® at Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 12, 2023.
That makes sense, since back in 2015, del Toro told Yahoo Movies that his ideal ‘Star Wars’ project would focus on the earlier days of the bulbous, sluglike gangster.
Here’s del Toro on the topic:
“This is not real; this is me as a fat geek just geeking out and talking about it. 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.”
In other interviews, del Toro has confirmed that he pitched Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy on ideas for ‘Star Wars’ movies, but obviously his busy schedule or their plans didn’t let it come to pass. At least, not yet…
Related Article: Series Creator David S. Goyer Talks Apple TV+’s ‘Foundation’ Season 2
David S. Goyer’s other ‘Star Wars’ script
Jedi in a scene from Lucasfilm’s ‘The Mandalorian,’ season three, exclusively on Disney+. ©2023 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.
Goyer wasn’t done dropping hints about ‘Star Wars’ projects he worked on… And it sounds like the other is much closer to reality.
This is what Goyer said:
“I also wrote an unproduced… I have a ‘scriptment’ for an origins of the Jedi movie, also for ‘Star Wars,’ that I wrote, that took place 25,000 years before the first ‘Star Wars’ film.”
Which is interesting, since that’s exactly the movie that ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’ director James Mangold is developing right now, as announced at April’s Star Wars Celebration.
(L to R) Director James Mangold, and Dave Filoni at Star Wars Celebration 2023.
Mangold later told Empire this about the planned movie:
“It takes place 25,000 years before Episode IV, and it’s about the discovery of the Force. I told Kathy [Kennedy] I wanted to make a kind of Bible movie, a kind of ‘Ten Commandments’ of ‘Star Wars’ –– kind of a Cecil B. DeMille film about the arrival of the Force, and that’s what I’ve been pecking away at between press events. That’s the idea.”
With luck, this one should make it to screens, but we may still have a wait ahead of us…
(Center) Jabba the Hutt in ‘Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.’ Photo: Lucasfilm.