In just two short months the Star Wars universe is going to expand in ways that it never has before. They are on the precipice of the release of their first official spin-off movie with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which is a one-off exploration of the team of Rebels, that stole the plans to destroy the Death Star prior to 1977’s, A New Hope. However, that isn’t the last of Lucasfilm’s plans.
In 2018, they will release their second spin-off from the Star Wars universe and this one will focus on the adventures of a young Han Solo. If you are familiar with the original trilogy, there are two characters that have to be involved in his origin story, Chewbacca and Lando Calrissian. While his furry sidekick is a given, today we got confirmation of recent rumors. Lando is coming back to the screen and Donald Glover will be taking over the role from Billy Dee Williams.
The movie is being directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller and this is what they had to say on the casting.
“We’re so lucky to have an artist as talented as Donald join us. These are big shoes to fill, and an even bigger cape, and this one fits him perfectly, which will save us money on alterations. Also, we’d like to publicly apologize to Donald for ruining Comic-Con for him forever.”
Glover is on a recent winning streak, with an memorable supporting role in The Martian and this year creating and starring in the acclaimed new show Atlanta. However, as Lord and Miller’s comments indicate, his stardom is about to go to another level. As Star Wars is one of the biggest properties in film history.
The hiring of Lord and Miller, as well as the casting of Glover seems to indicate that the film will be heavy in humor. Glover has proven that he has range, with the flexibility to deliver both comedy and drama. At one time in history, replacing Billy Dee would have been unimaginable. Now a new generation will be introduced to the charming scoundrel, who has a nefarious past with Solo. Following the casting of Alden Ehrenreich in the coveted role of Han Solo, this is the next big domino to fall and there will surely be many more to follow.
Official Press Release:
Hello, what have we here?
Lucasfilm announced today that Donald Glover, an acclaimed actor, award-winning writer, and Grammy-nominated artist, will be playing the part of Lando Calrissian in the still-untitled Han Solo Star Wars film, helmed by directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. Glover will join Alden Ehrenreich — previously cast as Han Solo — in bringing two iconic Star Wars characters back to the big screen, but at a time in their lives previously unexplored. This new film depicts Lando in his formative years as a scoundrel on the rise in the galaxy’s underworld — years before the events involving Han, Leia, and Darth Vader in The Empire Strikes Back and his rise to Rebel hero in Return of the Jedi.
The Han Solo spin-off movie will open in 2018.
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Source: Star Wars