Phil Lord and Chris Miller to direct a Han Solo Movie

Lucasfilm has announced that "The LEGO Movie" and "21 Jump Street" directoring duo Phil Lord and Chris Miller will take the helm of an untitled Star Wars Anthology film focusing on the adventures of young Han Solo, slated for release on May 25, 2018. The picture already has a screenplay by "The Empire Strikes Back" writer and "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" co-writer Lawrence Kasdan and his son Jon Kasdan, who wrote and directed the indie drama "In the Land of Women". [hit the jump to continue]

Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy will produce, while Lawrence Kasdan will executive produce alongside Jason McGatlin, and Will Allegra is listed as co-producer. The official logline is as follows:
"The story focuses on how young Han Solo became the smuggler, thief, and scoundrel whom Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi first encountered in the cantina at Mos Eisley."

So basically we're doing the prequel thing, only this time from Han Solo's point of view instead of the Skywalkers'. Initially, I would think that a Han Solo movie would be a risky thing to do. Han Solo is one of the most beloved anti-heroes and such a sci-fi swashbuckling icon. It's fragile enough that a bad choice for a director and a minor misstep could really ruin the image of the character. Making a Han Solo movie was a bad idea; So now, the producers made the right move in choosing the perfect guys for the job. We are now talking about the two miracle workers in Hollywood; Lord and Miller had been widely praised as to how they turned bad ideas into cinematic masterpieces. It was unbelievable that they could make a really good Lego movie, and how they could turn a cheesy 80's show (21 Jump Street) into a comedic masterpiece with an equally magnificent sequel. Let's hope Lord and Miller will make the same magic with Han Solo.

According to the press release, the Han Solo film will be Lord and Miller’s next movie. That shoots down all the speculations that they'll be helming that Flash movie with DC or the third Jump Street movie. As for other projects, they have previously signed on to write and produce an animated Spider-Man film for Sony. They most recently penned the screenplay for The LEGO Movie Sequel and are producing that follow-up while Rob Schrab directs, so their involvement in that movie likely remains unaffected.

The full Star Wars release calendar that has been officially unveiled thus far is as follows:
Star Wars: The Force Awakens – December 18, 2015
Star Wars Anthology: Rogue One – December 16, 2016
Star Wars: Episode VIII – May 26, 2017
Untitled Han Solo Star Wars Anthology Film – May 25, 2018

[RETURN TO MAIN PAGE]