SOLO PROJECT
The lowdown on the next Star Wars spin-off
AS THE FIRST Star Wars standalone story, Rogue One, continues its box-office domination, the second is about to get underway. ‘Young Han Solo: A Star Wars Story’ (not the official title) will start to shoot in January or early February. So with a 25 May 2018 release date (up against Madagascar 4!), 41 years to the day since we first met the Corellian smuggler, this is what we know so far…
THE FILM MAKERS
On 7 July 2015, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy announced Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the duo behind the Jump Street franchise and
The LEGO Movie, as directors. For all their hip, flip sensibility, they have a clear grasp of what makes Solo tick. “He is clever but smart,” Lord told Star Wars Celebration. “He doesn’t want to do anything that he’s told, and if he’s told not to do something, he only wants to do it more. He’s very sarcastic and yet unreasonably optimistic. He’s basically a cynical guy with the biggest heart in the galaxy.” Surely they think Solo shoots first.
THE HERO
Alden Ehrenreich, best known for a stellar turn in Hail, Caesar! and Warren Beatty’s upcoming Rules Don’t Apply, was chosen from 300 hopefuls including established names like Dave Franco, Aaron Taylor-johnson, Ansel Elgort, Jack Reynor and Miles Teller. “Turns out that was a total waste of money because the person who got the part was the first person to audition, literally the first person to walk in the door,” Lord
said at Star Wars Celebration. Ehrenreich was buzzed to do a chemistry test with Chewbacca — confirming the unsurprising news that the Wookiee stays in the picture — and revealed, “The coolest part of that audition process was when I went on the Falcon. It was pretty unbelievable.”
THE COHORTS
Lando Calrissian, Han’s old buddy, will be played by modern renaissance man Donald Glover, best known for Community, his self-penned show Atlanta and his musical alter-egos Childish Gambino and mcdj. As seems compulsory these days for any actor joining a franchise, Glover
was a childhood fan — his first action figure was a Lando — and he has been read the riot act by his mother: “Don’t mess it up!” Lord and Miller seem confident. “These are big shoes to fill, and an even bigger cape, and this one fits him perfectly, which will save us money on alterations,” the pair said in a typically dry press release. Completing the central triangle (or square, if you include Chewie) is Emilia Clarke as a yet-to-be-named character. With Game Of Thrones, Terminator Genisys and now Star Wars, Clarke is cycling through sci-fi/ fantasy franchises like a demented Warwick Davis.
THE PLOT
“This moves closer to a heist or Western-type feel,” Kennedy told Variety recently, playing squarely into the character’s roguish smuggler’s wheelhouse. Co-writer Lawrence Kasdan, working with son Jon, is a huge student of Westerns, with a particular penchant for The Magnificent
Seven’s Steve Mcqueen: the character will likely be imbued with Mcqueen’s trademark swagger and poise. Expect meeting Chewie, winning the Millennium Falcon from Lando in a session of dice game sabacc, and an intro for Boba Fett (another potential standalone) to figure.
THE LOOK
Kathleen Kennedy recently revealed a key visual source for the film. “We’ve talked about [Frederic] Remington and those primary colours that are used in his paintings defining the look and feel for the film.” Arrival cinematographer Bradford Young will be behind the camera and is already talking up Lord and Miller’s visual brio. “It’s gonna feel like a Star Wars film, but we’re definitely gonna break some rules, and we’re encouraged to do that.” Solo wouldn’t have it any other way.
‘UNTITLED HAN SOLO STAR WARS ANTHOLOGY FILM’ IS IN CINEMAS FROM 25 MAY 2018