Only two months have passed since filmmaker Josh Trank announced that he would no longer be directing a Star Wars spinoff, but StarWars.com reports thatLego Movie directors Christopher Miller and Phil Lord are now helming the picture. The feature, which has a planned May 28th, 2018 release date, will revolve around on how young Han Solo became a smuggler and thief.
This is the first film weve worked on that seems like a good idea to begin with, the directors said in a joint statement. 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 youre 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 youve loved since before you can remember having dreams at all.
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Miller was previously an intern for Lucasfilm. The Hollywood Reporter claims he appeared as a Stormtrooper in a Star Wars special edition film.
Lawrence Kasdan, who co-wrote the screenplays for The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, and his son Jon are writing the movies script. The elder Kasdan, who will serve as an executive producer on the spinoff, also co-wrote the script for the upcoming film Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Were so excited to be working with Chris and Phil, who will bring a fresh new dimension to the Star Wars universe, the Kasdans said in their own joint statement. Theyre two of the smartest, funniest and most original filmmakers around, and the ideal choice to tell the story of Han Solo, one of the coolest characters in the galaxy.
The magazine speculates that this project might put Miller and Lords role in some other projects, including a Flash movie and another 21 Jump Street sequel, in jeopardy. They had also an animated Spider-Man movie in the works, though they were not signed on to direct it.
Tranks abandoned Star Wars spinoff was rumored to tell the origin of bounty hunter Boba Fett. Producers are reportedly attempting to find another director to helm this storyline. The moviemaker who previously made an 85-second-long unauthorized Star Wars short titled Stabbing at Leia told Los Angeles Times that leaving the movie was the hardest decision Ive ever had to make in my life. At the time of his departure he said that he wanted to move forward on a different path, though he has yet to explain fully why he stepped away from the project. He later told the Times he wanted to do something that was lower profile.
Disney announced in 2013 that it planned on making a series of stand-alone spinoff Star Wars movies that existed within the same universe as the saga. That same year, the studios chairman suggested at CinemaCon that a new Star Wars flick could ostensibly come out every summer.
The studios first extension of the Star Wars saga, Star Wars: The Force Awakens its seventh film is scheduled to open in theaters on December 18th.