Paging Han Solo, prepare for your ‘Star Wars’ spin-off
What’s that you feel in the Force? It’s a million voices crying out in sheer joy, and it doesn’t sound like they’re going to quiet down anytime soon. The long-rumored stand-alone Han Solo movie is happening, and it’s happening in the best way possible.
Unless you’ve been living in uncharted Tatooine desert, you know that Disney is making three brand new Star Wars movies. The first rolls out later this year, with Episode VII: The Force Awakens. Following that, there will be Episode VIII and IX later on down the road, too. But why stop with just three new Star Wars movies when we could have MORE Star Wars movies?
Expanding this galaxy even further, there will then be stand-alone Star Wars movies. The first one of this series, Rogue One, flies into theaters next year, and will be about some Rebel pilots on a mission to steal the plans for the Death Star. Along with Rogue One, there have been a hundred thousand rumors about an anthology movie focused around a young Han Solo. And after YEARS of patiently waiting for confirmation of this news, it’s finally happened. There’s going to be a stand-alone Han Solo movie. Celebrate as you see necessary.
This news actually gets better, if you can believe it. Disney has tapped two of the best directors to helm this project: Chris Miller and Phil Lord. They’re the same folks behind The Lego Movie. They also did 21 Jump Street and 22 Jump Street. And, Fox’s Last Man On Earth. Now they’ve got the keys to the Millennium Falcon.
It might seem like an odd choice for a Star Wars movie, but it’s actually the best possible thing that could have ever happened. Search your feelings, you know it to be true. Miller and Lord clearly know their comedy, and Han Solo is a funny guy.
“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,” Miller and Lord said in a joint statement. “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.”
Han Solo: The Movie (it’s actually untitled, but we’re just calling it that) will deep-dive into Han’s “origin” story. Like, how he won the Millennium Falcon from Lando Calrissian in the first place. How he made the Kessel Run in 12 Parsecs. Stuff like that. There’s no cast announced, but Lawrence Kasdan (who wrote Empire Strikes Back and Raiders of the Lost Ark. Also, The Bodyguard) will write the script with his son, Jon.
The movie also has a release date: May 25, 2018. And OK, so maybe it is three years in the future, by now we all should have learned that you can’t rush Han Solo.
(Images via Disney/Lucasfilms and Giphy)
Related:
