SOLO A STAR WARS STORY

Director Ron Howard Starring Alden Ehrenreich, Emilia Clarke, Donald Glover, Woody Harrelson, Thandie Newton, Paul Bettany, Phoebe Waller-Bridge eta 25 May

Among director Ron Howard’s Instagram posts on Han Solo’s headline gig, the one with a bunch of people looking lost in a fog seems most representative of the production as a whole. Beyond producer Kathleen Kennedy’s indication of a “heist or western-type feel” to the film, clear intel on the choppy project has been tougher to spy than a wampa in a snowdrift. Hell, even the name-drop didn’t officially arrive until mid-October.

But the mist is clearing, slowly. True, question marks hover over how much of the material “shot first” by departed helmers Phil Lord and Chris Miller was usable. Some sources claim divisive replacement Howard shot 80 per cent anew; star Thandie Newton said 90 per cent of her work was with Lord and Miller. But it’s probably safe to make another numbers-based guess about Howard’s tour of the space rogue’s early years, based on his tease-y one-word posting: “Spicey.” Textbook enigmatic? Yes, but it surely indicates we’ll be visiting the spice mines of Kessel, where the Falcon made a certain “run in less than 12 parsecs”. Those racing to keep pace with Hail, Caesar! hunk Alden Ehrenreich’s Solo include Emilia Clarke as Kira and Donald Glover as the dashing Lando Calrissian. Scheduling conflicts led to Michael K. Williams departing the film, though it’s thought that Paul Bettany’s involvement is as his replacement, playing (in Bettany’s words) “a very cool intergalactic gangster” (see page 92). Also bringing the cool is Woody Harrelson as Beckett, who the actor describes as “a criminal and a sort of mentor to Han”. Ever the good-vibes master, Harrelson encourages confidence in the force of Howard. “I do think we’ve made a really good movie, and it could be a really funny movie, too. And Ron Howard is just a joy.” In short, have faith: if Howard’s on speed-racing movie Rush form, Solo might show us a good bit of rescuing yet. KH