The first trailer for Solo: A Star Wars Story was finally released this week, and while didn’t disappoint, it was also fairly light on story details. But Entertainment Weekly has now revealed a little more about what we can expect from the upcoming Star Wars spin-off, as well as showcasing some new images.
Director Ron Howard explained that much of the movie would focus on the relationship between Solo and his trusty Wookiee co-pilot Chewbacca. “To me, this is a love story between Han and Chewie,” he said. “Their relationship has always been my favorite part of the saga, and the fact that only Han understands what Chewie is saying, I find a very funny possibility for comedy.”
EW also revealed that original Han Solo actor Harrison Ford was a secret advisor on the movie. Ford read the script an at early stage of pre-production and met with actor Alden Ehrenreich, who plays the young Han in the movie. “What [Ford] did so beautifully for Alden was he talked a lot about what he remembered when he first read Star Wars, and what George had done with Han,” Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy said.
“Who the character was, and the conversations he had for so many years with George [Lucas] about how that character developed. He gave Alden that kind of insight which was invaluable. There were several times in the course of making the movie where Alden would actually recount some of the things that Harrison had pointed out. I think that was really, really helpful to him.”
We also now know a little more about the new character Qi’Ra, played by Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke. The character was a close friend of Solo’s when they were much younger, but Clarke hinted the older character we meet in the movie has some secrets.
“The whole way through, she is surviving,” she said. “And surviving in the underworld that we know to be [filled with] smuggling, aloof gamblers, wrong-side-of-the-tracks nasty ones. If you have got a really glamorous lady in a really sordid environment you kind of know that maybe the glamour is hiding a few rough roads.”
Solo: A Star Wars Story also stars Joonas Suotamo as Chewbacca, Donald Glover as Lando, Woody Harrelson, Thandie Newton, Paul Bettany, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge. It hits theaters on May 25, 2018. Check out GameSpot’s full Solo trailer breakdown here.
In related news, it was also announced this week that Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss will write and produce a new series of Star Wars movies. Disney confirmed that these films will be separate from the current Skywalker saga and the trilogy of movies that Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson is working on. “David and Dan are some of the best storytellers working today,” Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy said in a statement. “Their command of complex characters, depth of story and richness of mythology will break new ground and boldly push Star Wars in ways I find incredibly exciting.”
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