It’s official: Disney has found the directors of the second Star Wars Anthology film, and their names are Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. The wunderkinds behind The LEGO Movie and 22 Jump Street (who are also working on an animated theatrical Spider-Man spin-off) will helm a feature film detailing the young adventures of Han Solo, played in the original Star Wars trilogy by Harrison Ford.
Although Miller and Lord joke in the StarWars.com press release (below) that “this is the first film [they’ve] worked on that seems like a good idea to begin with,” we’re not so sure. If the Star Wars prequels taught us anything it’s that learning how the sausage was made can sometimes ruin a good thing. We can’t imagine that learning what Han Solo was like as a little kid would make his original trilogy adventures any more interesting. It’s not like it worked wonders for Anakin Skywalker or Boba Fett.
Related: ‘Star Wars’ Comes to Comic-Con 2015
But of course, Lord and Miller are masters of taking “iffy” ideas and making them feel genius. The LEGO Movie seemed destined to become a forgettable marketing cash-in nightmare of a movie… until audiences actually saw it, and turned it into one of the most acclaimed and successful movies of 2014.
And besides, we don’t know how young Han Solo will get in the new Star Wars Anthology film. It could take place in the days, weeks, months or years immediately prior to Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, which would take the little kid curse off of it. And with Lawrence Kasdan and Jon Kasdan writing he script, Han Solo appears to be in at least four pairs of really good hands.
We just need one more pair of good hands, specifically those belonging to whichever actor takes over the mantle from Harrison Ford, who is currently reprising his iconic role in this December’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Rumors are probably already speculating that Chris Pratt would and/or should take over the role, but we here at Crave actually doubt it. It’s too similar to a role he already plays in Guardians of the Galaxy, and Disney will probably want to find a new actor who brings a little less baggage to the part.
Read the complete press release below, and keep coming back to Crave for more updates:
The next adventure in the Anthology series of Star Wars films will be directed by Christopher Miller and Phil Lord, whose credits include the critically acclaimed The LEGO Movie, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, 21 Jump Street and 22 Jump Street. Among the most sought-after filmmakers working today, the two have proven a formidable duo in film and television and are looking forward to applying their unique sensibilities to the Star Wars Universe.
“This is the first film we’ve worked on that seems like a good idea to begin with. We promise to take risks, to give the audience a fresh experience, and we pledge ourselves to be faithful stewards of these characters who mean so much to us. This is a dream come true for us. And not the kind of dream where you’re late for work and all your clothes are made of pudding, but the kind of dream where you get to make a film with some of the greatest characters ever, in a film franchise you’ve loved since before you can remember having dreams at all” said Miller and Lord.
The screenplay is written by Lawrence Kasdan and Jon Kasdan. The story focuses 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.
Lawrence Kasdan, the writer and director known for Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Big Chill and Grand Canyon, is familiar to Star Wars fans for having co-written the screenplays for The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, and The Force Awakens. His son Jon Kasdan wrote and directed The First Time, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, and In the Land of Women, as well as writing for the television series Freaks and Geeks and Dawson’s Creek.
William Bibbiani is the editor of CraveOnline’s Film Channel and the host of The B-Movies Podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
