Tag: lawrence kasdan

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How old will Han Solo be in his Anthology movie?

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Han’s prequel won’t go back quite as far into his past as The Phantom Menace did with Anakin Skywalker. Han will “definitely be probably in the high teens, low 20s,” Kathleen Kennedy told Entertainment Weekly. “We’re not introducing you to a 10-year-old Han Solo.” She also hints as to the tone of the film, but as for plot? What should remain a mystery?

“Those are exactly the questions we’re asking,” Kennedy says. “There’s got to be a reason for [the stand-alone film] to be. And obviously the thing that Star Wars has always done so well is it doesn’t spend a lot of time [explaining] the stories that have come before. We don’t want to do that either. We don’t want to spend time going back and answering a lot of questions that, quite frankly, I don’t think people want answered.”

The film was one of several ideas floating around, and it appealed to was Lawrence Kasdan:

“They said, ‘Here are the things that we’d like to make movies about,’ and I said, ‘Oh, well, Han Solo. I would write a movie about Han Solo. He’s always been my favorite.’ And that’s the job that I took,” Kasdan says.

As for the now-third Anthology movie, the one developed by Simon Kinberg, it’s still in the mix. (And rumored to be about Boba Fett, but isn’t everything?) They haven’t hired a new director to replace Josh Trank yet, but it will likely come out in 2020.

And there’ll be yet more Star Wars out of EW tomorrow…

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The Force Awakens: EW on the return of Han Solo

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Today’s first The Force Awakens story from Entertainment Weekly’s Fall Preview is all about Han Solo. Err, Harrison Ford’s return to the role. It’s a nice piece – the bit about Ford’s reunion with Peter Mayhew is very sweet – and there’s at least one laugh-out-loud transition, but the news here is slim. (At least, if you watched the SDCC panel.)

But later, we’re getting something on the Han Anthology film… Though Lawrence Kasdan does talk about the script like it’s already done!

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The Force Awakens at SDCC: Princess Leia, General Hux and Harrison Ford


Sure enough, there was no trailer for The Force Awakens at SDCC, but we did get this sweet behind-the-scenes video, which includes our first look at Carrie Fisher as Leia.

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The panel consisted of J.J. Abrams, Kathleen Kennedy, Lawrence Kasdan, John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, Domhnall Gleeson, Gwendoline Christie, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, and even Harrison Ford, who joked about his leg.

We got new pictures of Kylo Ren (Driver) and Captain Phasma (Christie,) but the big reveal was General Hux, Gleeson’s character. “He’s British, so yeah,” Gleeson said when asked how evil his character was. (Driver was far more shady about it.) Gleeson also let slip that the First Order has a ‘Starkiller Base.’ Oh, and the turkey-thing from the first Force for Change video showed up, and his name is Bobbajo. (The spelling is straight from Pablo!)

Ford was the final guest to come out, sounding happy and proud about the film. Harrison Ford! Happy! (Hitfix has the quotes!)

Oh and, hey, let’s see how long this stays up:


All the folks in Hall H were treated to a free concert featuring music from the films and a fireworks finale. I’m not even jealous, because the video is so amazing and the first thing about this movie that has made me cry. I am a Star War, too.

Tweets from the panel!

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LEGO Movie directors on board for a young Han Solo film

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The second Anthology film will feature a young Han Solo film, and The LEGO Movie’s Christopher Miller and Phil Lord are at the helm, StarWars.com announced today.

The screenplay, by Lawrence and Jon Kasdan, focuses on how Han Solo became “the smuggler, thief, and scoundrel whom Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi first encountered in the cantina.” The film is set for a May 25, 2018 release.

I’d say to gird yourself for the casting speculation, but we already know how that goes…

According to The Hollywood Reporter, which broke the news just before LFL did, the Han Solo film is not the one that Josh Trank was working on, though obviously it’s occupying the same slot now. That film was rumored (though never confirmed) to be about Boba Fett.

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SDCC: The Force Awakens panel to dominate Friday evening

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We’ve know that Lucasfilm would have a Friday Hall H panel for The Force Awakens at San Diego Comic-Con for some weeks now, but now we have a time: 5:30pm PDT, aka 8:30pm EDT. The panel description is exactly the same, teasing Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, Lawrence Kasdan and “special guests.”

We’re expecting a big splash – one doesn’t take their franchise to Hall H after this many years without bothering to do that much, particularly when one’s parent company has their own con* a month later, and the sibling is sitting it out…

* Yes, we’re expecting TFA stuff at D23 too, but that’s also the first con after the Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation release that’s keeping LFL quiet on the Rogue One front, so that seems like it may get a big splash.

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The Force Awakens is going to SDCC

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There will be a Hall H panel for The Force Awakens at San Diego Comic-Con on Friday, July 10, StarWars.com revealed today. Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, Lawrence Kasdan and “special guests” will be present.

There are several other panels, including two for Star Wars publishing. (Del Rey will be at ‘Part 2,’ Friday at 11 a.m.)

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Lawrence Kasdan on Star Wars past, future, and Lando

braintrustVanity Fair isn’t done just yet: In addition to (finally) posting their complete cover story on The Force Awakens, they have an interview with Lawrence Kasdan where he talks about the old film, the new film, and hints that Lando Calrissian’s journey isn’t over just yet.

As for TFA, less is more when it comes to running time:

…it’s turning out really great. J.J. directed it so beautifully, and it’s so exhilarating and everything. It’s a big movie. It’s full of wonderful stuff, incident and character stuff and jokes and effects. One of the things that we always refocus on from the get-go was that it not be one of these very long, bloated blockbusters. A lot of very entertaining movies lately are too long. In the last 20 minutes, you think, why isn’t this over? We didn’t want to make a movie like that. I mean, we were really aiming to have it be—when it’s over you’ll say, “I wish there’s more.” Or, “Wait, is it over?” Because how rarely you get that feeling nowadays, and I think we’re headed there. But it means that there will be constant critical looking at it from now to the end, saying, “Do we need this? Do we need that? Is it better if this comes out, even though we love it?” Killing your darlings.