When Boba Fett fell into the sarlacc pit in Return of the Jedi, it seemed like an unfitting death for one of Star Wars' most menacing villains, but we now know it was somewhat of a symbolic move by series creator George Lucas.
In an interview with Inverse, Craig Miller, Lucasfilm's fan relations officer, said that Boba Fett was originally slated to be the central threat in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. “Originally, Boba Fett was set up in Empire as a character, and the third movie’s plot was going to be more about Boba Fett rescuing Han Solo and all of that. Boba was gonna be the main villain," Miller said. "That was set up, why he was taking Han Solo away, why there was a thing with him in the Christmas special. When George decided not to make a third trilogy, he completely jettisoned that story line, which is why in the first ten minutes, Boba Fett gets bumped into and falls into the mouth of a giant monster. So he took what was planned for the third trilogy, which was the confrontation between Luke and Darth Vader, and the battle with the Emperor, and that got squished down from three movies to one movie. And that became the plot of Jedi.”
Miller said the switch came from Lucas' desire to move away from blockbuster films to focus on smaller, experimental movies. He also said that following the release of Star Wars: A New Hope, Lucas had an idea for 12 Star Wars films.
