Posted in: Disney+, Preview, Star Wars, streaming, Trailer, TV | Tagged: boba fett, Fennec Shand, lucasfilm, preview, robert rodriguez, star wars

The Book of Boba Fett: Rodriguez on Conan/Godfather Comparison & More

On December 29th, Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison) & mercenary Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen) will head back to the sands of Tatooine to tackle some serious unfinished business in Disney+ and Lucasfilm's The Book of Boba Fett. In the series, the pair look to stake a claim on the territory once ruled by Jabba the Hutt and his crime syndicate- and they plan on doing it either by force or through respect. Now, executive producer & director Robert Rodriguez has offered some additional insights into "The Mandalorian" spinoff during an interview with THR. What follows are some of the highlights, but a couple of quick takeaways. First, the footage we've seen so far comes mostly from the opening and first half of the first episode ("We can't use the second half of the first episode because it gives so much away"). Rodriguez would go on to direct close to half of the season himself ("big ones," as he refers to them), and is supplying the voice to two characters (including The Mayor, who we heard in the trailer).

On Why "Boba Fett" Changed His Mind on Franchises: "I usually avoid premier properties — you'll never be able to please everybody, it's a losing game. I'd rather go do something I've created so nobody can say, 'Hey, that's wrong because …' I created it, so it can be anything I want it to be. I love that freedom. That changed with Boba because he was a character that was always underserved. It was a character way more popular than he should have been, based on [his limited screen time]. So it's almost like starting with an original character. You can kind of do anything you want, so long as you make him cool and don't make him a buffoon."

On Morrison & Wen Being "Youthful and Energized": "You never feel like they're an older cast; they're so youthful and energized. Tem and I work out together — he really is Boba Fett. And for Wen, I would design whole sequences just to end on her and the look she would give Boba because she's so badass. Tem knows this is his moment and she knows this is her moment, and when you get actors like that, they go for it and it's palpable."

On What "Boba Fett" Has Themes Familiar to Conan & Michael Corleone Fans: "Boba bites off more than he can chew, and we definitely do not make it easy for him," Rodriguez says. "It's easy to sit on the throne; it's not easy to stay on. So what's it like for a bounty hunter to have to suddenly become a leader? Where's the push and pull in that? What is he trying to become? We really go in depth into the character."

On How Filming During the Pandemic Worked Towards His Directorial Strengths: "I came out of the gate firing away — 'Let's shoot, shoot, shoot because we might not be here next week, we might get shut down.' But we never got shut down. So I was showing sequences already edited to Jon and Dave after the first three weeks, and they were like, 'I can't believe how much you shot already.' We kept shooting every day like it was going to be our last day."

On Keeping with Certain "Star Wars" Standards: "There was nobody going, 'These are the rules.' It was more like me saying, 'This color feels very safe and we want it to feel more dangerous, so can we change it to this color?' And they go, 'These are the colors we've used, so let's try one of these out.' But I can't reveal what."

Rodriguez, Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, Kathleen Kennedy, and Colin Wilson executive produce. Karen Gilchrist & Carrie Beck serve as co-executive producers, with John Bartnicki producing and John Hampian as co-producer. Now here's a look at the newest teaser released earlier today, with Boba Fett & Fennec Shand proving just how "Ready" they are:

Now here's a look back at the official trailer for The Book of Boba Fett, hitting Disney+ on December 29th:

As most of you should know by now, the Peyton Reed-directed and Favreau-written season finale "Chapter 16: The Rescue" contained two pretty huge reveals. For these purposes, we're focusing on the surprise that came in the form of the end-credits scene. We cut to the double suns of Tatooine, slowly shifting our attention over to Jabba's Palace. The scene cuts to the inside of the palace, where we see Bib Fortuna is still livin' large- well, was still livin' large. That's because our bounty hunter (Morrison) and Fennec Shand (Wen) arrive to engage in a little "long-term house cleaning" (sparing the Twi'lek slave, though- because that's how they roll now).

As the dust settles, Boba Fett grabs a seat on Jabba the Hut's old throne in a Game of Thrones-like pimp move- with Fennec Shand by his side to let viewers know things are a little different now on Tatooine. And then the money shot. We get the title card, "The Book of Boba Fett" – along with the heads-up that it's coming in December 2021. It appears The Book of Boba Fett will join Ahsoka (with Rangers of the New Republic no longer in active development) in the same shared "Mandalorian" timeline. Favreau and Filoni will executive produce and oversee all four series (think Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige), with the series set to "culminate in a climactic story event." Think of it as the "Star Wars" universe's answer to Avengers: Endgame.

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