Han Solo’s Age, Tin Can’s Fate, and More on “Han Solo Day” from Entertainment Weekly!
EntertainmentWeekly released two great articles centering on what they called “Han Solo Day” as we head in towards this weekend’s D23 media push. Although the articles are primarily focused around Han Solo, there are a number of good tidbits that came out of them.
Up First is an article where Kennedy lets a great deal of new news go. But first and foremost is the question many have been asking. Just how old will Han Solo be in this young Han Solo film. To alleviate the fears of many, no it does not seem we will be seeing any pre-teen Han Solo adventures.:
“He’ll definitely be probably in the high teens, low 20s,” Kennedy says. “We’re not introducing you to a 10-year-old Han Solo.”
So that is that. Expect the casting predictions to start rolling in for anyone who recently got turned down on Spider-Man, any number of Young X-Men, or young and upcoming actors who recently starred in a little seen but critically beloved indie teen drama.
But for anyone afraid that the Solo Anthology film might just be a cash grab aimed at exploiting one of the franchise’s most popular characters, Kennedy seems to be taking the responsibility of exposing Solo’s past seriously.
“There’s got to be a reason for [the stand-alone film] to be. And obviously the thing that Star Wars has always done so well is it doesn’t spend a lot of time [explaining] the stories that have come before. We don’t want to do that either. We don’t want to spend time going back and answering a lot of questions that, quite frankly, I don’t think people want answered.”
But that was not all. Kennedy also commented on the fate of what was supposed to be the second anthology film after Gareth Edward’s Rogue One. The much speculated and gossiped about film that went by the code name Tin Can. According to EW, we came very close to seeing a bit of this only a few months ago before the sudden departure of director Josh Trank.
X-Men producer and writer Simon Kinberg was developing that untitled movie, and Chronicle director Josh Trank was set to direct. When Trank ran into already-legendary trouble making the disastrous Fantastic Four reboot, he ended up stepping down from the Star Wars job. Sources tell EW that we almost saw a teaser reel for that film at Star Wars Celebration in April, until Trank’s participation was put on hold at the last minute. (Lucasfilm won’t comment on that, or the subject of the movie, but we heard about its lead character on good authority a while back.)
“It’s still one of the stories that we absolutely want to tell,” she says. “There is a lot of innovative technology in and around what it is we’re doing with that story, so for a lot of reasons, we were comfortable postponing that. But we’re definitely still developing it.”
It doesn’t have a date, but it will probably come in 2020, after the conclusion of this new trilogy with Episode IX in 2019.
Kennedy says there’s no rush. They want to get it right.
“We’re trying to get to a point,” she says, “where we’re never rushing for anything.”
To read the entire article on the anthology Films, go to EntertainmentWeekly.
But before EW even released the story above, we had another great article. But instead of focusing on the younger version of everyone’s favorite scoundrel, this article talked to Kennedy and Abrams about the original Han Solo’s experience on that other big Star Wars film coming up, The Force Awakens.
The article goes is a great examination of Harrison Ford through the eyes of some of those he worked with on the film. What becomes clear from these interviews that Ford’s excitement isn’t any act designed to hype the film. It seems he has a renewed enthusiasm for the character, that instead of being pushed back down by broken legs and plane crashes, has continued to grow throughout the process. And Kennedy chalks that up to a good story and a good script.
“I think what really got him excited was when he read the first draft, and he saw where we were going and what we were doing. He was immediately on board, and then he sat down and had a great conversation with J.J. and went through, in detail, what we were thinking about doing,” says Kennedy. “And then, you know, Harrison — and I’ve always found this over the years with the Indiana Jones films we’ve all done together — he’s incredibly collaborative when it comes to story and developing his character, and really engaged in the process. And he was every bit that on this film. “
JJ Abrams, who according to the article did some significant rewrites during the injury induced hiatus from filming, was shocked to find he didn’t need to rewrite much of Harrison’s part to accommodate an injured old man.
“It wasn’t something that we knew for a little while. When it became clear that he was going to be just fine, we realized we didn’t need to change that at all,” Abrams says. “In fact, there are some places where he’s more active than he was prior to the accident. As you’ll see in the movie, he is running and doing more physical activity in this movie than I think anyone who knows he was injured would expect. Nothing was adjusted or lessened because of that accident. Even for Harrison, who is famously resilient and strong, he blew everyone’s minds.”
The article goes on to discuss more details on Ford’s time on set, his plane crash, as well as the impacts of Peter Mayhew’s injury and the bond shared between the actors behind the icons Han Solo and Chewbacca. For the complete article, check out EntertainmentWeekly HERE.
Still not sure about the young Solo Film. Time will tell.
As mentioned previously – I would love to see Mark Rylance cast in one of these films. He would play a good Villain / Imperial / First Order Character.
Directly following those awesome Episode VII photos, ‘Han Solo Day’ turned out to be a little bit of a damp squid.
The leaked Luke Skywalker photo was way cooler.
Maybe you wouldn’t feel that way if you hadn’t put Han Solo on a pedal stool.
Pedal stool? LOL.
The lack of education on display here gives me a sincere lack of faith in future SW fans.
The expression is Damp Squib. Damp SQUID makes no sense. Squids are after all always damp…
http://img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20070811174802/starwars/images/6/6b/Tessek_bg.jpg
Oh know he has wet himself again – the DAMP SQUID
Sook ma boaby!
They’re jokes from the show The IT Crowd: “damp squid” and “pedal stool” .
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I like this article!
And the clarification that Kathleen Kennedy is giving.
Has anyone figured out the tragic misstep of Han being married in the marvel comic yet?
I’ve not seen anywhere reference an update since.
I’m hoping it’s just a case of some rouse or plan put together for some old smuggling scam and they aren’t actually married
The next Star Wars issue is set for two weeks out. Next week is Kanan and then SW#8 the week following. If more is revealed, it will be that issue or in the issues following.
“…film might just be a cash grab aimed at exploiting one of the franchise’s most popular characters”
So whats new.
“We don’t want to spend time going back and answering a lot of questions that, quite frankly, I don’t think people want answered.”
That’s what the prequels did.
And poorly.
Kennedy (who spoke that quote) was not part of Lucasfilm when the prequels were made.
Actualy, people WANTED to know about the history in the prequels. Them being done poorly,however, is another matter
Did anyone notice that in the EW article, Harrison says, and I quote… “glad to see that costume for the last time”. Does this confirm 7 is his final film?
I thought the same, Chris, but read it again: he said that back in the Return of the Jedi days.
Reading comprehension.
That quote was from the 80s regarding return of the Jedi.
You have to include the line before:
“…*who long ago told The Today Show* he was “glad to see that costume for the last time…”
And “long ago” means mid-1980s.
As far as who could play Young Han Solo… My thought is Anthony Ingruber, who played a young Harrison Ford (AKA Young William Jones) in The Age of Adaline. Check out the IMDb photos, and you might see the resemblance I’m seeing.
People keep saying this. His imitation of Han is cringe worthy. I don’t care how much he looks like him.
I thought I was the only person that thought that. IMO, his voice is just okay, and his movement is only okay as well. I want to like him, but unless he’s come further than what I’ve seen recently, he’s got a long way to go.
Thank goodness someone said that…I watched the videos and seriously thought I was missing something. He didn’t sound like Harrison Ford with my eyes closed or opened.
He sounds great in Age of Adeline, really nailed HF’s barritone. However it’s more of a parlor trick impression than an acting performance.
I’m intrigued by him, but it’s one thing to be able to imitate a character saying the exact lines that character said; it’s quite another to actually perform that character in new situations with new lines. You need someone who is able to do the latter. Okay, Ingruber did a respectable job in Age of Adaline, but there he had the freedom of not having to perform as some pre-established character. And hey, I’m not going to knock the guy without having seen him try. But Im sure even he would agree he needs to do more than a convincing imitation. In fact, I bet you that right now he’s preparing his damnedest to do just that, just in case he’s actually called to audition for the part (and no doubt he will).
So are they gonna go the “young imperial pilot gone rogue” direction with his origin story or are we looking at something more generic?
I have to say, the whole “young street-punk discovers who he is” thing has been done to death.
Actually, the directors are presented with a rare limitation here, as Han Solo DOES have his diamond-in-the-rough ascension moment – in Star Wars,
which means “young doofus discovers he’s a good guy” is actually OFF THE TABLE on a chronological level.
In fact, we may be looking at the reverse, prim-and-proper legitimate member of society becomes disillusioned and descends into drug smuggling – rather a different direction from the old movies.
Normally, I’d be worried about them shia-labeoufing Han Solo, but having Kasdan working on it in secret for the past year(s?) is a very good sign. I hope Kasdan has found the right story to tell about Han Solo pre-rebellion.
I think they’d almost have to have him defect from the Imperial academy. Perhaps see scenes with one Baron Soontir Fel or other famous Corellians in Star Wars.
But him abandoning the Imperial Academy is a must have, as well as how he and Chewie met and got the life debt.
High teens, low twentys is far too young. The whole idea is bad in general but if they are gonna make it: 30ish please.
“30ish” is his age in the OT. Late teens and early 20s would let them get away with recasting his role.
Han solo day. so when does he meet chewbacca? are we gonna get a canon explanation for how they team up
“the thing that Star Wars has always done so well is it doesn’t spend a lot of time [explaining] the stories that have come before.”
Wow! That could be seen as a big old crap on the Prequels right there. The problems with the prequels were in how the story was executed, not with the story itself.
I really don’t think Han will die in this movie. Chewie on the other hand…
Kennedy seems to understand the danger to dispell the myth of the character.
Good the Spoiler Wars continue anew. Keep the press on. Spoil Snoke. Severus Snoke Ren.
Ingruber better start lifting weights. He is too frail looking right now to play Solo, but he has potential. Still, I will be shocked if a Youtube impressionist gets the lead of this franchise. Someone like Ansel Elgort, with more experience, will get it. Elgort is also too skinny for it at the moment.
Sure, start lifting weights, although HF was not a bulky guy. That only leaves the minor problem that Ingruber can’t act. At all. He was okay (hell, uncanny even) in the first few moments of Adeline when he’s aping a previous Harrison performance, but he was downright uncomfortable to watch later on, around the picnic site scene, when he had a perform something he couldn’t copy from Ford.
Sure, HF was not bulky but he looked like a grown man. They are going so young with this version of Han Solo that they will probably cast a wimp.
Forget the weights, he better start taking acting classes. That youtube impression of Han is downright cringe worthy.
They are turning SW into Muppet Babies with these Anthology films. Baby Han, Baby Boba, and Baby Rebels.
So they are basically doing the Star Trek reboot which had Baby Kirk and so on. Too bad they aren’t creating new characters and narratives.
Tru dat. Tru dat in spades. It’s a great big universe, Disney, with a galactic republic spanning millenia – open it up a bit and let LFL explore something other than the two generations we already have 6, soon to be 9 films covering.
Kennedy says there’s no rush. They want to get it right.
“We’re trying to get to a point,” she says, “where we’re never rushing for anything.”
I have to say I’m having trouble squaring this statement with “AND WE’RE GOING TO RELEASE AT LEAST ONE SW MOVIE EVERY YEAR FROM NOW UNTIL DOOMSDAY!”.
What’s Tin can????
The tanked Trank film.
The Fett movie.
The next trilogy has a conclusion. Great to hear that. I wonder where will go the story before that. Oh man. Amazing years to come.