Every Star Wars movie and TV project canceled by Disney, ranked

Disney has killed more Star Wars movies than it's made, but which of these failed projects had the most potential?

By Sam Barsanti | August 23, 2023 | 12:00pm

Film Features Disney

Every Star Wars movie and TV project canceled by Disney, ranked

Clockwise from top left: Rangers Of The New Republic logo (Lucasfilm), Rian Johnson (Getty Images), Rogue Squadron teaser (YouTube), The Mandalorian (Lucasfilm), Kevin Feige (Getty Images), Obi-Wan Kenobi (Lucasfilm) Image: The A.V. Club

Disney has squeezed a lot of movies and TV shows out of the Star Wars license since handing George Lucas that check for $4 billion, most recently Disney+’s Ahsoka. But for nearly every thing we actually get to see, there’s at least one other project that gets quietly canceled before seeing the light of day—or quietly canceled after seeing the light of day, or loudly canceled before seeing the light of day. But would any of these canceled projects have been any good? Or did we dodge a bullet on each one like Han Solo instantaneously shifting to the side to avoid Greedo’s blaster shot in A New Hope?

There’s obviously no way to know, but what is being a Star Wars fan if not engaging in pointless debates, so here’s a definitive ranking of every canceled (or effectively canceled) Star Wars project since Disney took over the franchise. To ensure accuracy, each film or TV show will be ranked according to the Star Wars universe’s closest thing to hard science: midi-chlorian counts, which are used to determine a person’s sensitivity to The Force. A dead or completely inert thing presumably has zero, the average human has 2,500 per cell in their body, and Anakin Skywalker—the person with the highest recorded midi-chlorian count in Star Wars history—had 20,000.

Note: Some of this information is based on rumors or assumptions and may not be completely accurate.

Rangers Of The New Republic

What was it? An apparently easy win for Disney+’s then-young corner of the Star Wars universe, Rangers Of The New Republic would’ve presumably followed Gina Carano’s Cara Dune—introduced in —as she took out Imperial remnants alongside other veterans of the Galactic Civil War. We’re picturing something closer to than the average Star Wars thing.What happened to it? . Disney from The Mandalorian in 2021 for a string of offensive social media posts, and while she was never officially announced as the star of Rangers, it seems particularly telling that the project was shelved not long after she got fired.What was its midi-chlorian count? Zero seems fair, assuming we’re living in the alternate universe where Carano wasn’t fired from The Mandalorian and got to star in this show anyway. Besides, do we really need a Star Wars show about space cops?

David Benioff and D.B. Weiss’ prequel trilogy

What was it? Game Of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss were attached to a new Star Wars trilogy before their HBO series had ended, and though we didn’t find out much more about it until after it was canceled, it reportedly would’ve been an “origin story” for the Jedi. That also happens to be what James Mangold’s upcoming Star Wars thing is , so the idea didn’t completely die when Benioff and Weiss left.What happened to it? The official story is that the Thrones guys so they could focus on a lucrative development deal at Netflix, but the is that whatever plans Benioff and Weiss had didn’t gel with what Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy wanted out of Star Wars, and the two sides were never able to see eye-to-eye. Also, maybe someone at Lucasfilm saw the Game Of Thrones finale.What was its midi-chlorian count? Let’s say 1,000. Not ridiculously low, but much lower than the average dude walking around the cantina.

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Obi-Wan Kenobi trilogy

What was it? Developed by Stuart Beattie, the movies would’ve been a dive into Obi-Wan’s life as a hermit after the events of , eventually leading into some kind of exploration of what motivated him to sacrifice his life to help Luke escape in the original Star Wars. Ewan McGregor was on board to reprise his role from the prequels, and—don’t ask us how we could possibly know this, but—a young Princess Leia may have been involved.What happened to it? The box office bomb of killed a bunch of projects that were in development, . But, of course, the concept was revived for Disney+’s show, which used Beattie’s screenplays as a jumping-off point (he’s credited on the show, but they didn’t actually use anything he wrote).What was its midi-chlorian count? 3,000. Here we have the benefit of actually seeing a version of this idea come to life, but the version we saw wasn’t particularly great. It probably would’ve been better as a movie, though, with Beattie noting recently that Disney had taken his scripts and “turned it from two hours into six,” which … explains a lot about the Obi-Wan show.

The Boba Fett movie

What was it? The idea of a movie just about cool-ass bounty hunter Boba Fett went through a few different iterations in the early days of Disney’s stewardship of the Star Wars brand (this is supposedly what would’ve been), but it seemingly came the closest to actually happening when to make the movie. We never heard much about it beyond that, including whether or not it would take place before or after Fett fell into the Sarlacc pit in , but details like that are just the finishing touches when you have an idea is solid as “Boba Fett movie.”What happened to it? Solo’s flop didn’t help, but the was supposedly The Mandalorian, which did the Boba Fett thing so well that it seemed unnecessary to actually make a real Boba Fett thing with Boba Fett. The Mandalorian eventually paid respect to the helmet-wearing bounty hunter who inspired it with some appearances from Fett himself, setting up the lousy spin-off (which, as far as we know, doesn’t have any real connection to what the movie would’ve been).What was its midi-chlorian count? 3,500. On paper, the idea of a movie about Boba Fett was great. Everyone likes the guy, we don’t know much about him beyond the fact that he looks cool, and Disney could use him to fill in some gaps in the timeline when the Jedi and the Skywalkers aren’t doing much. We know that the TV show didn’t work out well, but in a “what might’ve been” scenario, the movie still had some potential.

Star Wars: Detours

Star Wars: Detours - Trailer

What was it? An animated Star Wars comedy show from the creators of Robot Chicken, featuring celebrity voice actors and a bunch of wacky Star Wars jokes. Detours was developed before Disney bought Lucasfilm, and George Lucas was so confident in it that he completed a bunch of episodes and had commissioned scripts for several more.What happened to it? Disney didn’t like the idea of releasing a Star Wars satire before releasing , so it was , never to be touched again. That means Disney killed it, even if Disney didn’t create it.What was its midi-chlorian count? 5,000. The final Star Wars thing made by George Lucas! Even if it was crappy, it’s still historically significant. That being said, the trailers—all scrubbed from the internet—looked a bit crappy.

Colin Trevorrow’s Episode IX: Duel Of The Fates

What was it? The original pitch for Disney’s Episode IX, which would’ve been directed by Colin Trevorrow, apparently called Duel Of The Fates. The movie would’ve been completely different from J.J. Abrams’ , with actual plot points and characterizations carried over from Rian Johnson’s , and without any of the stuff everyone hated about Rise Of Skywalker.What happened to it? Once again, is that the filmmaker and the studio had different ideas for what the movie should look like. Or maybe Lucasfilm was scared of the divisive reaction to The Last Jedi and wanted something a little more straightforward and fan service-y. Or maybe the powerfully negative reaction to Trevorrow’s had some kind of impact.What was its midi-chlorian count? 8,000. The leaked script is , and pretty much anything would’ve been better than The Rise Of Skywalker, but doesn’t necessarily translate to a good movie. And there was apparently some kind of romantic subplot between Rey and Poe? That’s stupid. Also, even if it wasn’t a factor in Disney’s decision to go in a different direction, we still know how The Book Of Henry and Trevorrow’s Jurassic World franchise turned out.

Mystery projects from Damon Lindelof and J.D. Dillard

What were they? That’s the thing: We don’t know. We know a Star Wars thing that would’ve been directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy from Ms. Marvel, and we know Sleight director that may have been related to the old TIE Fighter computer games, but the enthusiasm that everyone had for their projects at least made them seem interesting.What happened to them? he was “asked to leave the Star Wars universe,” and Dillard says his project is but “not for lack of trying.” So … let’s go with “the filmmakers and the studio had different ideas for what the movies should look like.”What were their midi-chlorian counts? 8,500. A handful of optimistic bonus points for being mysterious. We’re assuming these creators had good ideas, which gives them a slight edge.

Kevin Feige’s Star Wars

What was it? Kevin Feige is the mastermind behind Marvel Studios and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, having discovered superhero comics while working as an assistant at The Donners’ Company, leading to him getting a producer job on the first X-Men movie and then increasingly high-level positions at the company that would become Marvel Studios. But his first love was Star Wars, and it made perfect sense at making billions of dollars with another one of its brands.What happened to it? We don’t really know. when Disney pumped the brakes on its Star Wars projects in early 2023, and we never heard any additional details about it. Perhaps Feige had other things to worry about? His MCU has been a bit shaky, after all.What was its midi-chlorian count? 15,000. Come on, whether it was good or not, this guy almost single-handedly changed the movie industry, and he’s been working in one genre for over a decade. Who wouldn’t want to see what kind of Star Wars nerd ideas he’s been sitting on, especially when he’s supposedly been thinking about them for his entire life?

Patty Jenkins’ Rogue Squadron

Star Wars: Rogue Squadron - Official Teaser (Directed by Patty Jenkins)

What was it? A surprisingly personal entry in the long canon of Star Wars movies, Rogue Squadron would’ve been a movie about the pilots of the Rebel Alliance, inspired by the death of Patty Jenkins’ father—who was a fighter pilot in real life. with a video of Jenkins putting on a flight suit and hopping in an X-Wing, and she just seemed very freakin excited about it.What happened to it? What didn’t happen to it? The movie was announced a little prematurely, with Jenkins busy developing a third Wonder Woman for Warner Bros. at the time, and Rogue Squadron was reportedly a few years after being teased. But then the Warner Bros./Discovery merger happened and Wonder Woman 3 was canceled amid , with Jenkins ultimately deciding to go back to Rogue Squadron. Unfortunately, it was in early 2023, with no real reason given.What was its midi-chlorian count? 19,000. This could’ve been rad as hell, even without the emotional angle of Jenkins making the movie as a tribute to her dad. The dogfight scenes in Star Wars movies are generally very cool, so a whole movie about pilots having space pilot adventures, playing space volleyball, and flying into the space danger zone would’ve been awesome.