Lucasfilm President Would Like A Lando Calrissian ‘Star Wars’ Spin-Off

The film is built around one of the more compelling stories in Star Wars lore that hadn’t yet been told on screen: the early years and coming of age of smuggler antihero Han Solo. The original directors, Phil Lord and Chris Miller, were fired about halfway through production and replaced by Ron Howard, who managed to finish the film on time.

Everyone in the ensemble is terrific – but the show-stopping, effortlessly scene-stealing performance of the movie comes from Donald Glover as the charming, suave, sneaky-smart gambler and pilot Lando Calrissian.

The premise sees young Han (Alden Ehrenreich) fall into this world of gangsters, as he and his partner Qi’ra (Emilia Clarke) go on the run from a local crime lord.

Deadpool 2 is not the only big movie to be released in May because later this month Disney will be releasing Solo: A Star Wars Story. Solo’s set-up follows that formula, but without the universe-altering mythology of the ancient battle between Jedi and Sith.

Solo: A Star Wars Story hits theaters on May 25. In this prequel, Solo is played by Alden Ehrenreich who most reviewers felt did an adequate job but well, is just no Ford. The first was 2015’s “Rogue One“.

Somehow, Solo is able to pack in several surprises.

The reporter looked at Clarke and then panned the room, saying, “And there’s journalists here, so maybe we can start with the training that you just gave everyone so we can stop using that word because I think people may just do it not knowing”. Here we thought that this might not happen. Not merely Han who makes it through life with the cheesiest of cheese-eating grins, but all of his cronies, both known and unknown. That is the very mind that he brings into full play when he enlists with a gang of inter-planetary brigands led by Tobias Beckett (Woody Harrelson) and his girlfriend Val (Thandie Newton in a disappointingly brief role).

“This is attractive”, Emilia Clarke (Qi’ra) said in the video, presumably referring to the stunning costumes.

Donald Glover is a scene-stealer as the young Lando Calrissian in “Solo: A Star Wars Story“.

USA trade publication Variety said: “The most important thing to note about Solo: A Star Wars Story is that, in spite of its widely-publicised behind-the-scenes turmoil, culminating with the replacement of directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller with Ron Howard several months into shooting, the film is not the disaster its production history might suggest. ‘We would love to tell a story about Lando Calrissian one day, but this is not news'”.

“Checking expectations” seems to be a common theme in the newest era of Star Wars films.

On the other hand, no franchise rakes in more than $42 billion, as Star Wars is estimated to have done since 1977, without being able to keep a good thing going.

For all the ways Solo could have gone wrong, it wisely aimed for a solid double rather than a grand slam on the first pitch. Yet when you speak to them, you can tell that they hold Star Wars at a different level of reverence than those other franchises.

I wasn’t terribly anxious about spoilers ahead of Solo.