We’re Getting a Solo Han Solo Movie in 2018


StarWars.com has officially confirmed that directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller will be helming the second ‘Anthology Series’ Star Wars film, slated for May 25, 2018. It will tell the story of “how young Han Solo became the smuggler, thief, and scoundrel whom Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi first encountered in the cantina at Mos Eisley.” The two directors are highly skilled, and have recently found critical acclaim with films such as The Lego Movie, 21 Jump Street, and its sequel.

This is huge news for fans. As many are well aware, the acquisition of the Star Wars brand by Disney has heralded not only the highly anticipated sequel trilogy, but also a series of Anthology films. We’ll effectually be receiving a new Star Wars film once per year. After Star Wars: Episode VII, we’ll recieve Star Wars Rogue One on December 16, 2016. The film will take place somewhere between episodes III and IV and will revolve around the Rebels stealing the plans for the first Death Star, and Darth Vader is rumored to show up. After that, we’ll get the next episodic number with Star Wars: Episode VIII on May 26, 2017. And then we’ll see our favorite “scruffy-looking nerf-herder” in action the following year.

I wouldn’t be surprised if they titled the origin story ‘Solo.’ It just rolls off the tongue.

The directors have expressed their eagerness to tell the tale, stating “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.”

I really hope we get to see the friendship between Han and Chewie take flight. I also hope we get to see him set eyes upon the Millenium Falcon for the first time. That’ll be something. Of course, one can fear that by diving back into the past it will cheapen the beloved character, similarly to how the prequel trilogy fell flat. Disney has been on their a-game of late, pushing out excellent films on all fronts: Marvel, Pixar, etc. It seems they’re giving a lot of well-needed attention to the characters and the brand, cracking down on a proper canon timeline, so I for one have high hopes that this will at the very least be better than the prequels.

Lawrence Kasdan (known for co-writing the screenplays to The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, and The Force Awakens) and his son Jon Kasdan will be writing the screenplay for the upcoming film. Lawrence Kasdan will also produce the movie, along with Jason McGatlin and co-producer Will Allegra.

14 thoughts on “We’re Getting a Solo Han Solo Movie in 2018

  1. Gotta say, I’m skeptical that so much time, effort and money’s being spent on an origin story for a character we already know. The problem with origin stories is that they have a fixed ending, so everything that happens risks being a check-list to get to that point. And since we know that ending, there’s no tension. Prequels need to justify their existence more than sequels because they take a franchise to a place we’ve already been, whereas stories are best told when they keep moving forwards and adding to the myth rather than trying to find something interesting in what we already know. Say the Prequel Trilogy didn’t exist – does a Darth Vader prequel sound interesting? Does the idea not remove an element of mystery from the character? The worst kind of prequels are the ones that are just expanded footnotes of the main story.

    That said, anything can work if it’s done right. And I highly doubt that people who are such fans of Star Wars would enter into something in which they didn’t have complete faith that it would be a worthy investment for the audience and would enrich the Star Wars story. I hated X-Men Origins; Wolverine but then again I really liked X-Men: First Class. It really comes down to whether the story’s worth telling. Unfortunately, we can only know that after it’s been told. I’m told that The LEGO Movie and the Jump Street franchise are very good, and the only director a film needs is a good one, but the question with Lord and Miller is; is it the right choice to give them a prequel to something else or let them do their own thing? They’re Star Wars fans, and they’re the ones that accepted the offer, but how will this affect 23 Jump Street? Does doing a prequel take attention away from that other thing? Now I care more about Star Wars than Jump Street (I’ve never seen them), but it’s a relevant industry question. It could turn out to be a good thing – either 23 Jump Street gets new directors that are even better or it’s pushed-back and turns out to actually be Spider-Man 3.

    It could work as a Netflix series, but then where would that stop?

    Really, my anticipation levels for this will be mostly influenced by the objective quality of Star Wars Anthology: Rogue One.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. You should copy this comment, and paste it into your blog, because you deserve a few likes of your own for putting as much thought into your comment. Thanks. Also, well put. I really appreciate your comment and I think we’ll really have to see how a Rogue One does upon its arrival. It is very dangerous to do a prequel and disrupt the mystique of a character. But not always. Maybe this will be an exception. I hope it will.

      Liked by 1 person

  2. I think this has amazing potential to be really awesome. Sure, they can screw it up, but I think the idea of what makes Han Solo such a good character is easily understood with the plenty of potential to expand upon.

    Liked by 1 person

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