8 Shelved Star Wars Projects That Never Made It to the Screen

The Star Wars universe includes dozens of films, animated series, books, comics, and video games. There could have been many more, but many projects never saw the light of day.

Here, we tell you about those movies and series that were shelved for one reason or another and will most likely never be released.

1. George Lucas's Sequel Trilogy

George Lucas planned to make three sequels set twenty years after Return of the Jedi. Episodes 7, 8, and 9 would have followed Luke and Leia as they tried to master the Force, faced a new threat, and passed on their knowledge to future generations.

Little is known about the plot except that Luke would have had a love interest and that Obi-Wan would have reappeared at the end of Episode 9.

2. Jabba the Hutt Movie

It's probably the strangest spin-off Disney has ever considered. In 2017, while planning to expand the franchise, the studio considered making a standalone movie about Jabba the Hutt, the brutal crime boss from the original trilogy.

Guillermo del Toro, the Oscar-winning director of Pan's Labyrinth, and The Shape of Water, approached Disney with the idea.

However, the failure of Solo: A Star Wars Story ruined all plans. If Jabba returns, it will be in a TV series and most likely without del Toro.

3. Spinoffs About Wookiees And Droids

In 1980, George Lucas discussed his plans for future projects in the Star Wars universe. His ideas were far from ordinary. For instance, he wanted to create a spin-off with droids as the main characters, with no human characters at all.

He also wanted to make a movie entirely dedicated to the Wookiees. Considering how much Lucas dislikes writing dialogue, this decision seems logical. Without dialogue, Lucas could focus entirely on the visual and event-driven aspects of the film.

However, it did not work out – the idea of a film about Wookiees was only reflected in the failed Christmas special episode, which features several scenes with Chewbacca's family speaking an alien language.

4. 'Splinter of the Mind's Eye'

Now, it's hard to imagine that anyone in the late '70s could have doubted the success of Star Wars. However, the film's producers were afraid that the ambitious project of the young George Lucas would end in failure.

The director himself decided to prepare for any outcome. If A New Hope flopped at the box office, he planned to shoot a low-budget sequel called Splinter of the Mind's Eye.

In it, Luke and Leia find themselves on a swampy planet searching for a crystal that will help them control the Force better.

Based on this plot, Alan Dean Foster wrote a novel with the same name in 1978. It was never filmed – A New Hope turned out to be a huge hit, so a low-budget sequel was unnecessary.

5. 'Star Wars: Underworld'

One of George Lucas's most ambitious unrealized projects was a large-scale series about the criminal underworld of Coruscant.

By 2005, 50 episodes had been fully written, and Battlestar Galactica screenwriter Ronald D. Moore had been brought in to work on the project. He promised it would be a dark, gritty, adult show unlike anything seen in the Star Wars universe.

Underworld would have dealt with the drug trade and the bloody business of bounty hunters.

The reason the series never saw the light of day is simple: Disney bought Lucasfilm, and Underworld's dark tone did not align with the studio's vision of Star Wars.

6. Boba Fett Movie

At some point, the studio presented an ambitious plan to alternate numbered episodes with spinoffs. After The Force Awakens, Rogue One was released, and after The Last Jedi, Solo: A Star Wars Story dropped.

The next spin-off was supposed to be a Boba Fett film. Josh Trank, the director of Chronicle, was chosen to direct the movie. However, after his Fantastic Four flopped, Trank was fired and replaced by James Mangold, the director of Logan.

Unfortunately, we will never know what Mangold would have done. After Solo's box office flop, Disney scrapped the idea of annual spinoffs. Boba Fett ended up getting a series called The Book of Boba Fett instead.

7. Obi-Wan Kenobi Trilogy

The same thing happened with the film trilogy about Obi-Wan Kenobi, for which Ewan McGregor was set to reprise his role. Stephen Daldry, the director of the Oscar-winning film The Reader, was responsible for the script and direction of the first movie. It was supposed to tell the story of the Jedi Master's life in exile on Tatooine.

However, we will not see that one on the big screen –the plans for a trilogy have been transformed into a series titled Obi-Wan Kenobi.

8. 'Star Wars Detours'

In 2010, one of the most unusual Star Wars projects was announced: a parody animated series called Star Wars Detours from Robot Chicken creators Seth Green and Matthew Senreich.

The show's creators managed to film two full seasons of 39 episodes and write another 62 scripts.

However, the show was never released. Star Wars Detours became another victim of the sale of Lucasfilm. In 2013, the studio postponed the premiere indefinitely, and the project was ultimately canceled.