Here's why Guillermo del Toro's Jabba Star Wars movie never happened

Although a common occurrence ever since Disney acquired Lucasfilm, it's not every day that we learn about a new scrapped Star Wars project, and few have been as interesting to read about as Guillermo del Toro's once rumored (and now very real) Jabba-centric spinoff movie.

We'd heard whispers about this specific project for the longest time, and only last month we learned via Joshua Horowitz's Happy Sad Confused podcast that renowned Hollywood writer David Goyer (Man of Steel, Foundation) had actively worked on a Star Wars script alongside Guillermo del Toro "about four years ago," which puts us in 2019 and around the time that The Rise of Skywalker released. According to Goyer, "there was a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff going on at Lucasfilm at the time," something which rings true, as 2019 and 2020 represented the period during which the studio shifted from theatrical spinoffs to Disney+ productions.

Now, it's Guillermo del Toro himself (while chatting with Collider's Steven Weintraub) who has briefly commented on what the script was actually about. Short answer: Yes, we could have had a Star Wars movie that told the "rise and fall" of Jabba the Hutt, as wild as that sounds. Ultimately, it seems the project didn't move forward because it was simply "one of those 30 screenplays that goes away." Star Wars is one of the biggest franchises and fictional sandboxes around, so it seems logical that many projects get pitched, but only a select few actually get produced. Moreover, Disney and Lucasfilm's shifting priorities in regards to the IP in recent times must have affected the overall process.

Mind you, we still have plenty of new Star Wars TV shows and movies (covering many different eras of the universe and genres) to look forward to. The Force still is strong with Lucasfilm, and shows like Andor and Ahsoka prove it.