Two weeks from today, theaters around the world will be packed with fanboys dying to seeStar Wars: The Force Awakens. That will be just the first in a slew of new movies, with a report from last month claiming that Disney plans on releasing a newStar Wars movieevery year, until fans stop buying tickets. AfterStar Wars: The Force Awakenshits theaters, theStar Warsuniverse will expand even more with the first spinoff,Rogue One: A Star Wars Story(July 25, 2025), followed byStar Wars: Episode VIII(June 02, 2025),Star Wars Anthology: Han Solo Movie(August 07, 2025),Star Wars: Episode IX(2019) and aThird Star Wars Spin-Off Movie(2020).Star Wars: The Force Awakensco-writerLawrence Kasdanrecently spoke withThe Los Angeles Times, revealing thatStar Wars: Episode VIII, which is currently in production underRian Johnson’s direction, will be a “weird thing.”
“These movies will all be so different. [Episode VIII director]Rian Johnsonis a friend of mine - he’s going to make some weird thing. If you’ve seenRian’s work, you know it’s not going be like anything that’s ever been inStar Wars. You couldn’t have three more different people thanJ.J. (Abrams),Rianand [Episode IXdirector]Colin (Trevorrow). Those movies will have theStar Warssaga as their basis, but everything else will be different. ThenPhil LordandChris Millerare going to make theHan Solofilm and I can’t guess what that will be like - and I’m writing it!”
Lawrence Kasdanis co-writing theStar Wars Anthology: Han Solo Moviewith his son,Jon Kasdan. We reported earlier this week that casting is already under way, with several actors between the ages of 18 and 32 reading for the title character.Lawrence Kasdanrevealed in this new interview that Han Solo has always been his favorite character, and that he volunteered to write the movie just before Disney purchased LucasFilm. Here’s what he had to say about why Han Solo is his favorite character in theStar Warsuniverse.
“Always. It started with the first movie, and it’s really one moment when they break into the cellblock and he has this conversation with the Stormtroopers over the comlink. They question him and he runs out of answers and he shoots the comlink and says, ‘It was a boring conversation anyway.’ That’s my favorite moment probably in all ofStar Wars. And that’s Han.”
SinceStar Wars: The Force Awakenstakes place 32 years after the events ofStar Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi, most fans assumed that there wouldn’t be much connection to the prequel trilogy.Lawrence Kasdanconfirmed thatStar Wars: The Force Awakensis more related toStar Wars: Episode IV - A New HopeandStar Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back, revealing how “goofy” the movie is. The writer also added that he isn’t terribly familiar with the entire franchise canon.
The story [in the prequels] does not interfere. We only have to deal with the first trilogy so we didn’t have to deal with it much. They obviously have a certain feel, and that was not the feel we wanted this one to have. This is much more related toA New HopeandEmpire. The thing I always loved aboutStar Wars- andGeorge (Lucas)had this when he made “A New Hope” andJ.J. (Abrams)can hook into this very strongly - is that it’s goofy, you know? There are big issues and there’s some philosophy, but it’s basically goofy. And I thinkThe Force Awakensis goofy - in the best way. Wherever there’s a question: Could that happen? Well, why not? And with the canon - everyone refers to the canon, but it has zero meaning to me. I don’t know what the canon is. I cannot get that straight."
Very little is know about theStar Wars Anthology: Han Solo Movie, except that it will be set before the events ofStar Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, focusing 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. It isn’t known how far alongLawrence Kasdanis on the script, but the writer teased that it will be fun to imagine this iconic character in his early 20s. Here’s whatLawrence Kasdanhad to say about delving into Han Solo’s past.
“You know, he’s younger in this [spinoff] movie and that’s fun because you have to imagine him 10 years earlier in his early 20s. What was he like before he hardened up? Before he had some setbacks? Before he put on this cynical coat? What got him there?”
Han Solo obviously plays a major role inStar Wars: The Force Awakens, but there have been rumors that he may be killed off in this highly-anticipated adventure, which have not yet been confirmed. Even if he does pass away in this movie, we’ll get to examine his past in theStar Wars Anthology: Han Solo Movie, hitting theaters in three years. What do you think about all these new details?
