Game On: ‘LEGO Star Wars Battles’

By Frank Pallotta, CNN Business

Disney+ has found success with a series about the adventures of one bounty hunter in a galaxy far, far away. So why not two?

“The Book of Boba Fett,” a new Star Wars series starring the franchise’s infamous bounty hunter, will premiere exclusively on the service on December 29, Disney announced on Wednesday.

Fans first got a glimpse of the new show via a brief preview at the end of season two of “The Mandalorian” — the hit series on Disney+ about a different bounty hunter who travels around with Grogu, or as you likely know him, “Baby Yoda.”

“The Mandalorian” is arguably the flagship series on Disney+. It premiered alongside the service in 2019 and has been a big driver in its gaining 116 million subscribers in less than two years.

Disney is hoping “Book of Boba Fett” will retain existing subscribers and attract new ones by leveraging one of the most recognizable figures in the Star Wars universe. Given that viewers signed up for a show about a completely unknown character in “The Mandalorian,” they are likely to do the same for Fett.

it’s also a way for Disney to expand on its Star Wars investment. The company has already released multiple films from Lucasfilm — a company they paid $4 billion for in 2012 — that have notched billions at the box office in return.

Disney’s is focusing on enriching its catalog as it competes with Netflix and a slew of other streaming rivals. Plus, the holiday-season release is a perfect time to sell Boba Fett action figures and other Star Wars merchandising.

Disney bills “The Book of Boba Fett” as a “thrilling Star Wars adventure” that “finds legendary bounty hunter Boba Fett and mercenary Fennec Shand navigating the Galaxy’s underworld.” In the series, the two return to Tatooine — Luke Skywalker’s home planet — to take over the crime syndicate once led by Jabba the Hutt, Disney said on Wednesday.

“Book of Boba Fett” is just scratching the Star Wars surface for Disney+.

The company has released other shows from the beloved and lucrative galacitic brand on the service, and announced last year that it has many more to come.

The-CNN-Wire
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