Following the flub of “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” the first “Star Wars” movie to ever really flop at the box office—with Alden Ehrenreich playing the part of the cocky spice runner and smuggler originated by Harrison Ford—Lucasfilm has said they likely won’t be recasting younger actors in the parts of iconic actors.
In today’s Vanity Fair profile on “Star Wars” that revealed all kinds of goodies and tidbits, Lucasfilm chief Kathleen Kennedy suggested that the company won’t be going the recasting route any longer. “There should be moments along the way when you learn things,” Kennedy said. “Now it does seem so abundantly clear that we can’t do that.”
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This shouldn’t be a total surprise. Young Luke Skywalker in “The Mandalorian” timeline is basically played by Mark Hamill via a combination of physically younger actors, Respeecher voice technology to de-age his voice, and (what is essentially) Deep Fake technology to de-age his face.
Still, this idea has all kinds of implications, of course. What does this mean for the proposed “Lando” show starring Donald Glover? Surely that’s the exception to this rule (though, it should be mentioned that proposed writer/director Justin Simien has been taking project after project that isn’t “Star Wars” so it may have stalled or been greatly delayed).
And what about more young Han Solo adventures? If he can’t lead a film, fans have been clamoring for Ehrenreich to show up on Disney+ in a “Star Wars” series, but Kennedy’s comments suggest a kibosh on that thought.
Meanwhile, remember the rumors of a “Star Wars” series executive produced by “Spider-Man” filmmaker Jon Watts? Apparently, they are true. While the series doesn’t have a title, it’s going under the code name of “Grammar Rodeo” and is also being exec-produced by writer Chris Ford. This sounds very much like the “Book of Boba Fett” model where Robert Rodriguez came on to direct and executive produce, so expect Watts to likely direct a few episodes.
What is it about? Well, it’s been rumored for a while that Lucasfilm had been developing their own “Stranger Things”-like “Star Wars” series. As Vanity Fair suggests, the youth angle seems to be correct.
“’Grammar Rodeo,’ a reference to an episode of ‘The Simpsons‘ in which Bart and his schoolmates steal a car and run away for a week, using a phony educational event as an alibi,” they noted. Like “The Mandalorian,” It’s also a post-“Return Of The Jedi” series, but the plot is unknown. As VF notes, “a casting notice has called for four children, around 11 to 12 years old. Inside Lucasfilm, the show is being described as a galactic version of classic Amblin coming-of-age adventure films of the ’80s.”
Well, that basically confirms the “Stranger Things”/YA, kids “Star Wars” story, and while some fans will surely groan, hey, let “Star Wars” be multiple things to multiple people. After all, the most adult of the shows, “Andor” will be on Disney+ this summer.