Solo’s Alden Ehrenreich signed for 3 films – but that doesn’t mean sequels

Lucasfilm has Solo star Alden Ehrenreich signed up for three films, he confirmed to Esquire.

We first heard this back in 2016 – and no one was particularly shocked by it then. Signing up your stars for multiple films is pretty standard when you’re dealing with big franchises like Star Wars, even in the (now rare) cases where sequels aren’t planned. I don’t think this means that Solo sequels are a given, but it does give Lucasfilm the option.

(And yes, I’d be shocked if Donald Glover doesn’t have the same stipulation in his contract – and Lando, I think, is a far more likely avenue for a Solo “sequel.”)

Meanwhile, here’s the full Ehrenreich profile from Esquire, where he addresses the Phil Lord and Christopher Miller situation – and says it’s not true that he approached higher-ups about them.

Solo and the evolution of the Millennium Falcon

Over at Entertainment Weekly, Solo‘s Jon Kasdan and Alden Ehrenreich discuss the movie’s Millennium Falcon and how it evolves with each owner, from Lando’s “party vessel” to the grimy version we meet in A New Hope. Also at EW, a look at the movie’s Hasbro toy line.

It must be merch reveal day, because we also have io9 with the 6″ figures of Han, Lando and Qi’ra, while The Hollywood Reporter has the LEGOs.

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.

First Solo details from Entertainment Weekly

Solo gets its first Entertainment Weekly cover, and a handful of new images. Let the feeding frenzy begin! Here’s what we’ve learned:

→ The train-thing is called The Conveyex, and Han (with Chewie!) is indeed trying to steal something from it.

→ We still don’t have a last name for Qi-ra (Emilia Clarke) but she has known Han “longer than anyone.”

→ The droid L3-37 (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) is Lando’s sidekick. Tobias Beckett (Woody Harrelson) and Val (Thandie Newton) are “career crooks,” while Dryden Vos (Paul Bettany) is a crime boss.

→ So much for my theory that the clean Millennium Falcon is a flashback scene – There’s a picture of Han on it with Beckett and Chewie.

Mimban confirmed, and it is… Muddy.

Coming up: Interviews with Alden Ehrenreich, Donald Glover and Clarke, more details about the Falcon.