‘Star Wars’ Writer Lawrence Kasdan Reveals When the Han Solo Film Takes Place
Screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan is leaving the Star Wars universe after the solo Han Solo prequel / spinoff, and while that film won’t hit theaters until 2018 — and we don’t even know who is playing Han — Kasdan has been offering a little insight into what the film may be like. During a chat with The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams, Kasdan delivered another bit of information about the upcoming film, which is being helmed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller.
Kasdan and Abrams sat down for a nice chat following a screening of The Force Awakens for the Directors Guild of America (via Indiewire), where the former told the latter a few things about the Han Solo film — specifically when it takes place:
It will not be, “Here’s where he was born and this is how he was raised.” I think what it will be is what was he like 10 years earlier—maybe a little earlier, you’ll get a glimpse. But Kurosawa once said the heroes are the ones that are still changing and the villains are locked and petrified into what they are, and Harrison embodies in Force Awakens someone who is still not settled on who he is.
George Lucas was inspired in part by the work of Akira Kurosawa when developing the original Star Wars trilogy, so that’s a nice callback. And it’s also something of a relief that this solo-Solo outing won’t offer a conventional origin story — no risk of another Jake Lloyd situation, and who wants to see toddler Han anyway?. For fans who feel as though we didn’t get enough Han in the recent sequel, the solo film should give us plenty more of our favorite space smuggler — even though he won’t be played by Harrison Ford this time out.
Lucasfilm has yet to cast an actor in the role of young Han, though the studio has reportedly met with over 2,500 potential actors for the project. For what it’s worth, we came up with our own suggestions last summer (Taron Egerton, ahem).
The Han Solo movie hits theaters on May 25, 2018.