Solo tickets on sale

There was no official pre-announcement and little fanfare, but U.S. Solo tickets are now on sale – or should be shortly, depending on your theater/chain. (Still waiting, local chain.)

The movie is tracking for a big debut – not The Force Awakens big, mind, but the predictions have it at a quite respectable $160 million opening weekend. That means it could easily beat Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End ($139.8M) to set a new Memorial Day record – or even outpace Rogue One’s $155.1M.

The movie is set for a world premiere May 10 in Los Angeles and an out-of-contention screening at the Cannes Film Festival before it officially debuts on May 25.

In the meantime, here’s a new commercial:

John Boyega “growing out” his hair for IX

In still-rare (if minor) legitimate Episode IX news, John Boyega revealed that he’s growing out his hair for the film, hinting at the time jump most of us are expecting from the film. “The first step is growing out my hair so you can wait for the trailer to see why,” he told Yahoo. Sounds like Finn is getting a new look! (You can check out Boyega’s current hairstyle on his Instagram.)

The Last Jedi is the only episodic Star Wars film that did not begin with a significant time jump from its predecessor.

Director J.J. Abrams has said Episode IX will start filming at the end of July.

Video: New ‘Becoming Solo’ featurette

Lucasfilm dropped a new Solo featurette on us this afternoon, giving us a lot of new looks at the film – particularly Corellia, Mimban and the sabacc game. (Plus more from his first meeting with Chewbacca!) There’s also talk from Ron Howard, Alden Ehrenreich, Donald Glover, Emilia Clarke and Lawrence Kasdan.