Phil Lord

Are you seated, Star Wars fam? You need to be seated for what you’re about to see because — and there is no easy way to break this to you — something is up with Alden Ehrenreich’s ’70s-style hair in this new photo from the set of the young Han Solo movie. And that something is not necessarily a good something. In fact, he looks less like he’s playing the junior version of Harrison Ford’s iconic hero in Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s untitled Star Wars spinoff, and more like he’s playing…you know what? I’m going to give you a chance to back away now before I say something that royally screws up your Friday vibes.

LEGO Batman may have gotten his own spinoff from Lord and Miller’s LEGO Movie, but we all know Unikitty was the real star of the show. So it is, that the extra-adorable LEGO character will headline her own Cartoon Network TV series, with Lord and Miller on-board to executive producer.

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Star Wars, Lucasfilm’s Force for Change has partnered with Omaze for a huge charity drive commemorating the past, present and future of the franchise. That future includes Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s (still untitled) young Han Solo spinoff, which is still lightyears (OK, months) away from release, so it’ll quite a while before we see a teaser. But with Force for Change heading into hyper-drive, we can expect more videos like the one above, in which Star Wars vet Warwick Davis drops in on Lord and Miller’s set and gives us a special sneak peek at a new alien character.

Although pre-production on Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s young Han Solo spinoff has been underway for some time now (operating under the clever codename “Red Cup”), today marks the full, official start of production. To celebrate, Lucasfilm has debuted the first photo of the cast and their directors, crammed together inside the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon as if posing for a very cheerful (if a bit tardy) holiday greeting card.

It’s a question that has perplexed Batman villains since at least 1989: “Where does he get those wonderful toys?” Finally, we have an answer. The LEGO Store. The one a few blocks from Warner Bros.’ New York offices currently sells at least eight different LEGO Batman sets, all of which appear in various forms in The LEGO Batman Movie. The film is, like The LEGO Movie before it, a feature-length toy commercial — and, like The LEGO Movie before it, The LEGO Batman Movie is far more entertaining than a giant piece of crass commercialism has any right to be.

And here…we…go. As of today, filming has officially begun on Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s young Han Solo movie, Lucasfilm’s next Star Wars Story standalone project. To commemorate the occasion, Miller shared a teaser photo that pays homage to the epic “who shot first?” debate — a timely nod, as this month marks the 20th anniversary (yep, you’re old) of George Lucas’ notorious Special Editions.

Just a couple of weeks back we learned that Woody Harrelson was in talks to join the young Han Solo movie, the next spinoff under the Star Wars Story banner. Today, directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller officially confirmed the actor’s casting via Lucasfilm with a statement in which they praised Harrelson’s talents — both in front of the camera and behind a ping pong table. Hopefully those skills come in handy for the role of Han Solo’s mentor.

With Rogue One in theaters now (go go go!), fans are already turning their attention to the next round of Star Wars movies because pop culture isn’t about what’s new — it’s about what’s next. Lucky for you, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy has a couple of brief updates on the next installments in the franchise: Episode VIII and the Han Solo spinoff. It’s just enough to keep you satisfied until Monday, probably, when someone else will undoubtedly say something interesting about the Star Wars franchise.

Lucasfilm’s latest State of the Star Wars Union address has arrived right on schedule (meaning: It’s been about a month since their last blanket franchise update), with studio president Kathleen Kennedy offering a few tidbits about their upcoming anthology projects. In addition to confirming the absence of a traditional opening crawl for Rogue One, Kennedy sheds some light on Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s approach for the Han Solo spinoff.

Lucasfilm is building a great roster of talent for its untitled Han Solo project, with Phil Lord and Chris Miller directing, Alden Ehrenreich and Donald Glover starring (as Han and Lando, respectively) and cinematographer Bradford Young — whose resumé includes stunning work on another recent sci-fi film: Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival. Those are some very bold names involved with the upcoming Star Wars spinoff, but just how subversive can we expect this movie to be when it’s tied to such a prominent franchise? According to Young, he’s been “pleasantly surprised” by the amount of creative freedom they have at Lucasfilm.