Thought we’d seen everything from EW? Wrong! Bringing up the back are Lawrence and Jon Kasdan with the movies that influenced Solo: A Star Wars Story. From Treasure Island (as namechecked in the scoundrel story) to… The Big Lebowski?
Disney World’s Star Wars hotel will connect to Galaxy’s Edge
The Star Wars-themed hotel that’s coming to Disney World in Florida will connect directly to the Galaxy’s Edge expansion at Hollywood Studios, Disney announced today at D23 Expo Japan. The fully-immersive hotel sounds like… A lot.
From the moment guests arrive at the hotel, [Walt Disney Parks and Resorts chairman Bob] Chapek said, their journey through space will begin as everyone boards a starship and departs together for a multi-day Star Wars adventure. An opening date for the new hotel has not yet been announced. But it can’t come too soon — we’re ready to vacation in a galaxy far, far away.
Still, no ETA on the hotel, though.
Also revealed was a look at the “handcrafted toys” that will be offered at a Toydarian’s street market in Galaxy’s Edge.
Galaxy’s Edge parks at Disney World and Disneyland are expected to debut in 2019.
Episode IX begins filming in the summer
At D23 Expo Japan, Disney Marketing President Ricky Strauss revealed that J.J. Abrams will begin filming Episode IX this coming summer. A special greeting from Abrams and some behind-the-scenes footage from Solo: A Star Wars Story was also shown.
Episode IX is due out on December 20, 2019.
George Lucas helped direct a small part of Solo
No coverage of Solo: A Star Wars Story would be complete without asking on the film’s turmoulous director issues, and Entertainment Weekly does go there, with the usual vague and polite responses from Kathleen Kennedy and Ron Howard on the issue of original directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller.
But the story begins and ends with George Lucas and Ron Howard, from American Graffiti to the set of Solo where – on Howard’s very first day – Lucas came to visit.
Continue reading “George Lucas helped direct a small part of Solo”
Beckett, Val and Vos: Solo’s new scoundrels
Entertainment Weekly covers our biggest new players from Solo: A Star Wars Story: Woody Harrelson’s Tobias Beckett, Thandie Newton’s Val and Paul Bettany’s Dryden Vos.
Continue reading “Beckett, Val and Vos: Solo’s new scoundrels”
Solo’s L3-37 is “a completely different kind of droid”
Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s droid L3-37 in Solo: A Star Wars Story is “a self-modified droid,” co-writer Jon Kasdan tells Entertainment Weekly. “The idea is that she’s sort of a mutt, if you will, of various parts of different kinds of droids who has improved upon herself.”
“She’s a complete individual in the galaxy,” Jon Kasdan says. “We wanted to have it be a completely different kind of droid than you’ve ever seen in the movies. And we definitely wanted it to be a female. We thought it was more than time for that.”
She has a “working relationship with Lando” that is “very sophisticated” and has evolved over the years, Lawrence Kasdan says.
She’s very smart and advanced for a droid, “and Phoebe is hilarious and brilliant and really helped bring that character to life in ways that are funny and surprising,” Ron Howard says.
Emilia Clarke on Solo: Qi’ra and Han “grew up together”
Emilia Clarke gives Entertainment Weekly some context on Qi’ra, her character in Solo: A Star Wars Story, including that there’s a “romantic side of things.” (Sigh, so much for all those half-sister theories.) But mainly, that her and Han go way back.
There is a thing throughout the relationship you just can’t put your finger on. And that’s Qi’ra. Every time you think you have got her number you realize you haven’t at all. [Laughs] Which is really hard to play. The goal is that the shadow of Qi’ra is there in Han as a character that we know. This girl is another texture that makes up who he is when we first meet him.
Donald Glover on Solo, Lando, and Billy Dee
Today from Entertainment Weekly’s Solo coverage, an interview with Donald Glover on Lando Calrissian, meeting with Billy Dee Williams, being a snappy dresser, and working with puppeteers.
For more about Glover himself, Atlanta, and his own history with Star Wars and Lando, check out Esquire’s cover story.
The Star Wars Show gives us a look at the new (old) Millennium Falcon
The Star Wars Show gives us a better look at Solo’s Millennium Falcon, trailer reactions and a chat with Lucasfilm archivist Madlyn Burkert.
How Harrison Ford pitched in on Solo
Harrison Ford may have finished up his run as Han Solo, but he did have some input on Solo, in the form of insight on the character.
“What [Ford] did so beautifully for Alden was he talked a lot about what he remembered when he first read Star Wars, and what George had done with Han. Who the character was and the conversations he had for so many years with George about how that character developed,” [Kathleen] Kennedy says. “He gave Alden that kind of insight which was invaluable. There were several times in the course of making the movie where Alden would actually recount some of the things that Harrison had pointed out. I think that was really, really helpful to him.”
We also get confirmation that Solo is keeping Han’s backstory as an orphan, and how that played into his bond with Rey in The Force Awakens.