• News

• All

Jul 08, 2015 By Christopher Roberts

After George Lucas sold Lucasfilm to Disney and gave up creative control of the Star Wars franchise, Disney announced a whole bunch of new Star Wars movies. The first of those, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, is due out this December and is a sequel to Return of the Jedi that features most of the main original cast (Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fischer, etc.). It’s now been announced, SuperHeroHype and other sites report, that Disney is embarking on a Star Wars prequel that features a young Han Solo.

The film will be part of their Star Wars Anthology series of spinoff films and will be directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the team behind The Lego Movie, 21 Jump Street, 22 Jump Street, and TV’s The Last Man on Earth. The script is set to be written by Lawrence Kasdan and his son Jon Kasdan. Lawrence Kasdan co-wrote the screenplays for The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, and The Force Awakens (and has also directed such films as The Big Chill and Grand Canyon). The film is due for release May 25, 2018.

There’s no word yet on who will be playing a young Han Solo, but Harrison Ford’s shoes will be tough to fill, especially as the character was fairly young when he first played him in the original Star Wars. No doubt Chris Pratt’s name will be bandied about, as he has been rumored to be the top choice to replace Ford as Indiana Jones, although it would be too much to have him play both roles and his part as Star-Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy is already pretty close to Han Solo.

Lord and Miller are quite in demand. They have already been tapped to write a movie based on DC Comics’ The Flash for Warner Bros., as well as an animated Spider-Man film for Sony. Lord and Miller released a statement about getting the Han Solo gig: “This is the first film we’ve worked on that seems like a good idea to begin with. We promise to take risks, to give the audience a fresh experience, and we pledge ourselves to be faithful stewards of these characters who mean so much to us. This is a dream come true for us. And not the kind of dream where you’re late for work and all your clothes are made of pudding, but the kind of dream where you get to make a film with some of the greatest characters ever, in a film franchise you’ve loved since before you can remember having dreams at all.”

Lawrence and Jon Kasdan also released a statement: “We’re so excited to be working with Chris and Phil, who will bring a fresh new dimension to the Star Wars universe. They’re two of the smartest, funniest and most original filmmakers around, and the ideal choice to tell the story of Han Solo, one of the coolest characters in the galaxy.”

And producer Kathleen Kennedy had this to say: “It’s not just any filmmaker who can tell the story of such a beloved icon like Han Solo, and I’m excited to say we’ve found the perfect team to handle the task. Larry and Jon know all there is to know about the character, and Chris and Phil will bring their wit, style, energy and heart to tell Han’s story.”

Another Star Wars prequel, Star Wars Anthology: Rogue One, is about to enter production (or some reports say has already been secretly filming). It tells the story of how the Rebels stole the Death Star plans that eventually got into the hands of Princess Leia in the first Star Wars film, stars Felicty Jones, and is being directed by Gareth Edwards (director of the recent Godzilla film). Apparently, as Birth. Movies. Death. reports Darth Vader is set to play a minor role in Rogue One.

No doubt there will be a lot more Star Wars news to report after this weekend’s Comic-Con.