The ongoing arguments over “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” will hardly be the last, as franchise fans gear prepare themselves for “Solo: A Star Wars Story” next year. According to Disney’s Bob Iger, the movie about the younger days of the smuggler, will bring to life the stories we had left to our imagination, including how Han Solo met Chewbacca, and got the Millennium Falcon. That’s not to mention the very public exit of original directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller, which is still hanging over the movie. The duo were apparently canned because Lucasfilm execs weren’t taking to their freewheeling comedic approach. However, it seems audiences can expect a wholly different vibe under the guidance of replacement filmmaker Ron Howard.
According to Paul Bettany, who joined the picture and subbed in for Michael K. Williams, “Solo: A Star Wars Story” may have some grit under its fingernails.
“It’s Han Solo’s story, and of course his story would be a caper. On one level it’s a gangster movie. That’s really interesting, because it’s within the canon but really different. It’s f**king Han Solo!” he told Total Film.
Well, it would make sense to see Han Solo roll with the more unsavory elements in that galaxy far, far away and perhaps part of Howard’s task was pull back some of the (presumed) wackiness or Lord and Miller’s approach to keep things from being tonally out of sync. I suppose we’ll see, but as much as Howard is a solid cinematic craftsman, he wouldn’t be my first choice to take viewers into the freaker side of “Star Wars.”
Starring Alden Ehrenreich as Han along with Donald Glover, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Thandie Newton, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge, “Solo: A Star Wars Story” opens on May 25, 2018 which hopefully means we’ll get a trailer soon.