Brow Beat

It’s Official: Han Solo Is Getting His Own Star Wars Movie

Han and Chewie in   Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope

© Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.

Looks like everyone’s favorite scruffy-looking nerf herder is getting his own movie. According to an official announcement from StarWars.com, the new stand-alone film will be helmed by Christopher Miller and Phil Lord (The LEGO Movie, 21 Jump Street), and it will be (though the press release avoids this term) a prequel:

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, who wrote and directed Raiders of the Lost Ark and co-wrote the screenplays for the final two installments of the original Star Wars trilogy, will co-write the screenplay with his son, Jon Kasdan (The First Time, In the Land of Women). And while the announcement of another Star Wars prequel might make some fans think “I have a bad feeling about this,” Lord and Miller are famous for turning bad ideas into good movies: “This is the first film we’ve worked on that seems like a good idea to begin with,” the co-directors joked. They added:

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.

The movie already has a release date: May 25, 2018.