On October 17th, director Ron Howard made an announcement concerning the Star Wars prequel for Han Solo. The movie is set to release in 2018 on May 25th, which is three years after its initial announcement in 2015. All that is known about the plot so far is that it will involve Han as a young scoundrel. Critics surmise that the tale should include how he met Chewbacca the Wookie and winning the Millennium falcon off of Lando Calrissian.

 

Howard has dubbed this film, “Solo: A Star Wars Story.” Now a lot of people might be picturing red cups and giggling quietly to themselves, especially on the internet, but the title does serve its purpose. The movie will be a prequel, and not actually tie into any new plot lines; it is simply a spinoff. Han Solo will not be played by Harrison Ford, which is not too much of a shock considering Ford’s age, but will instead be played by Alden Ehrenreich. This may be an issue for some, but for others, the change is a fit adjustment for the success of the prequel. Lando Calrissian’s role was given to Donald Glover.

 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Han Solo’s prequel has undergone many production complications before finally wrapping up, which seems to be a tradition amongst Star Wars films. The only film that did not have any problems in this area was “The Last Jedi,” which was allegedly produced without any major hitches. All others swapped directors or had script issues.

 

Originally, the new film was supposed to be directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who also directed “21 Jump Street” and “The Lego Movie.” The two directors were cut from the project in June, and Ron Howard was pulled onto the project, finally completing it this October.

 

In the creation of this sequel, Disney is more than likely going to be making immense money. Han is a legendary film character, and making a prequel around the anti-hero is definitely going to impact their product line. This production will allow the production of more Star Wars franchise, which is  a major selling point for Disney. That is not even considering the money they may make off of the film alone.

 

In any case, the new Star Wars film is going to be intriguing. The exposure of the possible life Han Solo led before the rebellion and events of future movies definitely will pull in many people on the fence where prequels are concerned.