While he clarified that he hadn’t discussed the project with Lucasfilm and he was just geeking out for the sake of it, Guillermo del Toro proposed an extremely tantalizing in a 2015 interview: “I would do the sort of Godfather saga that Jabba the Hutt had to go through to gain control...I love the idea of a Hutt type of mafia, a very complex coup. I just love the character.”
Five years later, as Disney’s attempts to elongate the Star Wars saga have del Toro’s gifted hands, it surely would be)–could revitalize the franchise in the same way The Mandalorian has.
It’s A New Kind Of Star Wars Story
J.J. Abrams got the Star Wars sequel trilogy off to a rocky start in The Force Awakens, because instead of exploring the natural progression of the story after the rise of the New Republic, he just copied the original trilogy’s formula. The New Republic was reduced to another struggling rebellion, the galaxy was controlled by another empire with Stormtroopers and Star Destroyers, and they had a planet-destroying superweapon that the rebels planned to blow up.
The great thing about del Toro’s plan to bring the familiar arc of a gangster’s rise and fall into the unique landscape of the Star Wars universe is that it would give the franchise a new kind of story. Like The Mandalorian, the Jabba trilogy would take advantage of the Star Wars-verse’s endless possibilities instead of restricting it exclusively to the nostalgic parts.
The Godfather Comparison Is Exciting
Out of the gate, del Toro compared his idea to The Godfather trilogy, which is a terrific groundwork on which to built Jabba’s story. Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather and The Godfather Part II are two of the greatest movies ever made. Part III underwhelmed, partly because Coppola didn’t even want to make it, but on the whole, the rise and fall of Michael Corleone remains one of the most captivating character arcs in the history of cinema.
If Guillermo del Toro plotted out a Corleone-esque arc for the three-part saga of Jabba’s gangland career, he could tell a story with just as much depth, but set in the Star Wars universe.
Del Toro Is One Of The Greatest Filmmakers Working Today
Jabba storyline aside, one of the most exciting things about this potential project is simply that it would be a Star Wars movie directed by Guillermo del Toro, one of the finest filmmakers working today, particularly in the genres of sci-fi and fantasy.
His ability to push social commentary through escapist genre stories is virtually unparalleled, while his captivating visual style is uniquely his own.
It Could Explore All The Facets Of Tatooine’s Criminal Underworld
In the same way that The Godfather explored how organized crime works in New York, a Jabba movie could explore the criminal underworld of Tatooine and how the rise of the Empire affected its operations (mimicking The Godfather’s own post-war setting).
Thematically, Jabba’s rise through the ranks of the criminal underworld can act as a dark parallel to Star Wars’ usual hero’s journey.
The Context It Provides Could Add New Depth To Jabba’s O.T. Scenes
The best prequels add new context to their predecessors, using the inevitability of fate as a dramatic tool. The context provided by Better Call Saul has given new layers to Saul’s scenes as a ing character in Breaking Bad. Obi-Wan’s duel with Anakin on Mustafar changes the emotional response to his duel with Vader on the Death Star.
Jabba’s backstory could add depth to his character and explain how he became the ruthless crime lord he is in the original trilogy, changing how we view him in rewatches of the original trilogy.
It Can Be Refreshingly Dark
While The Empire Strikes Back. This universe is just weird enough that it can thrive in the dark as much as it can thrive in the light.
There’s no way Disney would commission an R-rated Star Wars movie – nor should they, because that would betray the spirit of the saga – but Jabba’s story can explore some refreshingly dark themes within the confines of a PG-13 rating.
Star Wars Rarely Gives A Spotlight To The Villain
Apart from certain projects that have been expunged from the Star Wars canon, like the video game The Force Unleashed, Star Wars stories are rarely told from the side of the villain. Villains like Darth Vader and Kylo Ren feature prominently in the movies, but it’s clear that the protagonists are Luke Skywalker and Rey.
Jabba taking center stage would be the first time a Star Wars movie has been told from the perspective of the villain (unless focusing on Anakin’s turn to the dark side in the prequels counts) and Jabba is one of the most beloved and fascinating villains to start with.
Del Toro Has Real ion For The Character
When a director has a distinctive take on an iconic character – like Josh Trank’s body horror-inspired Fantastic Four, Zack Snyder’s mopey, pessimistic Superman, and Rian Johnson’s mopey, pessimistic Luke Skywalker – it can often disappoint diehard fans of the character if their characterization of that character is deemed to be disingenuous.
The easiest way to avoid this is to hire people who are diehard fans of a character themselves to bring that character to the big screen. Guillermo del Toro is primarily interested in making a Jabba movie because he loves Jabba, just like Christopher Nolan loves Batman and Ryan Reynolds loves Deadpool. We’re in safe hands.
Practical Effects Can Bring The Hutts To Life
If this movie ever did get made, which it probably won’t, it shouldn’t use CGI to bring its characters to life, because in both the prequel trilogy and the special editions of the original trilogy, the computer-generated Hutts look hideous. The puppetry in Return of the Jedi, however, is flawless.
Del Toro’s penchant for using practical methods where possible would serve the Jabba movie well, because he would surely use puppets instead of cop-out CGI.
It Could Revive The “Anthology” Movies
Disney’s Han Solo origin movie was considered to be a sure-fire hit, so when the tonally inconsistent Frankenstein’s monster made by three different directors arrived in theaters and became the first box office bomb in Star Wars history, the Mouse House panicked and put a stop to development of all the “Anthology” movies.
Standalone projects set across the vast, sprawling Star Wars universe have massive potential that Lucasfilm hasn’t quite tapped into yet. A Jabba trilogy would be a terrific way to revive these movies. Like Rogue One, it has enough of a connection to the previous movies to meet the nostalgia quota, but enough creative space to morph into its own beast along the way.
