Han Solo Spinoff Movie Starts Filming in January 2017. Lawrence Kasdan Talks Star Wars and More!
Lawrence Kasdan received the first AJFF Icon Award for Contributions to the Cinematic Arts. During a Q&A event the legendary writer and director discussed his career and the movie industry in general. Kasdan also spoke about his involvement with the other Star Wars movies, and the new Han Solo spinoff movie, revealing that filming starts in January for a May 2018 release. Read on for more.
Lawrence Kasdan won the first AJFF Icon Award on May 22, the award honors exemplary artists who have upheld the tradition of artistic excellence in film, informed directly or indirectly by a Jewish subject or sensibility, and who inspire preeminence in filmmaking worldwide. The screenwriter, director, producer and four-time Oscar nominee, accepted the award at a gala at the Woodruff Arts Center’s Rich Auditorium.
He has written/co-written some of the most successful pictures in film history that include Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Bodyguard, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, Body Heat and most recently Star Wars: The Force Awakens —which took in over 2 billion at the box office. Recently, Kasdan worked with his son, Jon, on the screenplay for forthcoming 2018 spin-off film that focuses on a young Han Solo.
The gala event also included a conversation with members of the media, including Atlanta Business Chronicle Senior Online Editor Jacques Couret, who sat down with the screenwriting legend to discuss his career, the film industry, current project and his involvement in the new Han Solo film.
Q: What can you tell us about the Han Solo project?
Lawrence Kasdan: Young Han! (Laughs).
Q: For the fans, generally speaking, should they be excited?
Lawrence Kasdan: Oh, I think so! You know, Chris Miller and Phil Lord are going to direct it. They’re great, funny and imaginative and we’ve had a great time together. My son [Jon] and I wrote the script and Chris and Phil are working on it and they’re about to move to London to start shooting in January. And it should be fun.
Q: 2018 is the release date?
Lawrence Kasdan: Yes. They’re actually scheduled for May. The [other Star Wars films] are falling on Christmas — Rogue One and Episode 9. Han will come before Episode 9.
Q: Did you think there would be a Star Wars Episode 9 when you were doing Episode 2/5?
Lawrence Kasdan: By the time I came on for 2… you know, it was already the biggest picture in the world, so it wasn’t a shock that they were going to do more. But yeah, it’s amazing… that was 40 years ago!
Q: The Star Wars movies that you had your hands on seem to have more emotional depth and they really resonate. We’ve all watched them thousands of times and it seems like Han Solo really shines in the ones that you’ve got your hands on.
Lawrence Kasdan: Well, I love Han.
Q: Is he what brings you back?
Lawrence Kasdan: Well, yeah. I was originally going to just write Han, but I had contracted to be in the story group on Episode 7, which became “The Force Awakens.” And then there were problems. A wonderful writer, Michael Arndt, just couldn’t do the time pressure, and people were being hired in England and it was enormous pressure and he stepped away. We stayed in contact and he’s a lovely man, then J.J. [Abrams] and I took over, and now I found myself instead just doing Han and consulting on “Force Awakens,” we were actually writing Episode 7 together and it happened very fast.
Q: Are you aware of the complete story arc of the new trilogy? Are you involved with that too?
Lawrence Kasdan: (Laughs) I have a little information!
Q: Are you helping steer that story?
Lawrence Kasdan: [Star Wars Episode 8 Director] Rian [Johnson] is a friend of mine. I’m getting to know Colin Trevorrow, who is going to direct Episode 9, so I feel very involved with it.
Q: Working with your family, is that more special, more fulfilling for you?
Lawrence Kasdan: It’s been great. First I worked with my brother, then I worked with my wife and then now my son. Of course, every collaboration is challenging in a way. But it has been very satisfying.
Kasdan also talked about many other interesting topics. For the full interview go to Bizjournals.com
Here’s a video with the Star Wars part, thanks to Phillip A. Simmons:
It wouldn’t surprise me if this one is pushed back to Dec. 2018, also. Is this the 1st confirmation that Ep IX is a December release too? I’ve been out of it for a little while…
I believe so. Until now, the word has been that Ep. IX is gonna be in May, but after they moved Ep. VIII, I figured that wasn’t gonna stay.
Am I quick to expect some bashing coming here just because of the movie?
Writing screenplays is very hard. I can’t imagine the pressure Arndt was under…
I’m so sorry…I didn’t meant to be rude.
No worries. You were not rude at all. I just thought that the comment would start something that we can avoid at least for a few more hours. 🙂
I think I know what you mean….
good interview. wonder what the arndt version of episode 7 would have entailed? hopefully we’ll find that plus george lucas’s versions out sometime!
I have heard that Arndt was focusing more on kids as the leads? Perhaps Disney was worried about reaction to Jake Lloyd from Ep.1
I think it’s all Kathleen Kennedy’s rabid feminist agenda that ruined the script which is nothing but a teenage girl fanfiction
I think you’re stupid. See? Opinions!
Pretty sure that’s a fact
I wouldn’t word it the way Platinum Star did, but I definitely think he has a point. Rey and Finn were presented as co-leads, but he felt more like her bumbling, incompetent comic relief sidekick. She kept winning and saving people while he kept losing and needing to be saved.
Even when Rey needed someone else to save her (air strike and Starkiller Base about to explode), guess who was always there to look worse off than her?
I’m not going to ignore these things just because I’m a Star Wars fan.
The media likes to portray the PT and OT as racist towards minorities when the three dimensional Lando and the authoritative Mace were great role models compared to the modern Stephen Fetchitt that Finn wound up being. It was oddly racially regressive by comparison.
What media are you talking about? I mostly hear positive things from them about the OT, and they mostly focus on Jar Jar Binks when it comes to PT racism. Nothing negative about Mace.
The usual “there were no women or POC in the SW galaxy before Disney took over”. At least they advanced the plot in I-VI and weren’t serving as buffoons and Mary Sue’s.
I never heard it like that. I have heard the media mention a lack of women and POC in Star Wars, but that’s about representation, not racism. I agree that none of them acted like buffoons or Mary Sues prior to TFA. The closest we got was Jar Jar Binks, who was played by a black actor.
Look up the various reviews for TFA to see more about that.
Exactly, Man. Lando was running Cloud City and saved everyone in Empire and Jedi, While Mace was running the Jedi Council and was Vader’s first kill.
Finn was like Rey’s gay friend who happened to work sanitation. I mean at least Leia was charmed by Lando at first, Finn might as well been a eunach.
Lando was even the unsung hero of V. The gang brought the Empire to his doorstep. Made them his problem. He did the best he could under the circumstances. When Vader crossed the line, Lando risked his neck and the necks of his people to save those ungrateful bastards.
Meanwhile, Luke tried to save his friends – and failed.
That’s true, It’s not like he sold them out to get rich since he already was but he did it to save everyone’s lives. Yeah, He started out as a con man but even in the new EU he only ripped off the corrupt and guilty. He wasn’t stealing from old ladies.
Not only that but he wasn’t in any drafts of TFA either even though Billy Dee is doing Rebels and even did the Lego game since he’s such a good sport.
I’m not going to call Finn gay, but he did feel emasculated, both by having Luke’s lightsaber taken from him twice (“This doesn’t belong to you!”) and by Rey kissing him on the forehead while he was in a coma.
Disney sure played it safe with those two. Even Luke got more action from his own sister.
Yeah, A lot can be read into that and it couldn’t have been an unconcious decision to do it. The OT is considered so racist yet at least Lando was allowed to kiss Leia’s hand and have a successful business of his own. He was also better dressed too.
I don’t think the OT was racist, unless you’re connecting the sand people to Arabs. I think it simply lacked people of color.
Representation, not racism.
The PT, on the other hand… ^_-
Me either and the Arab/Sand People thing really wasn’t there till AOTC. Also, Most 70’s films (especially Sci-Fi ones) lacked POC too so it’s not fair of them to compare old films to the standards of today.
Yeah, No one was safe in the PT but at least the stereotypes like Jar Jar got their heroic moments unlike Finn.
What connection did you make between Arabs and the portrayal of sand people in AOTC?
What heroic moment did Jar Jar get? In a way, he’s the Finn of the PT.
Bumbling, incompetent, low-skilled comic relief character who was the butt of several jokes, regularly needed saving, never got to look heroic saving anyone, was allowed to help the main characters but didn’t get to have one moment to themselves where they shined by achieving a personal victory, especially during the climax of the film where they needed a main character to save them.
They’re both cowardly characters who became brave by the end of the film, and they were both played by black actors.
The design of the female costume is heavily inspired by them, It’s even more apparent in the novel which isn’t surprising since the film was being reshot up until 9/11. Before they were just stand-in for any world natives but then they added all kinds of things in the EU that made the parralels all the more transparent.
All that’s true yes but unlike Finn, Jar Jar at least managed to take out some Battle Droids along the way and actually lead some troops as well got elected as a representative. Plus he did more heroic stuff in TCW too.
Jar Jar’s role was also severly reduced in II and III while it looks like Finn is going to get a larger one in VIII.
Thanks for sharing Rey’s connection to the sand people. Yeah, Jar Jar was allowed to take out some battle droids, but he did it through shear luck and bumbling. It was a nice gesture that he was made a general in the gungan army, but it didn’t feel earned at all, and he only won the battle because Anakin blew up the droid control ship. Jar Jar becoming a representative also was a nice gesture that didn’t feel earned. In fact, Jar Jar’s incompetence made Palpatine the Supreme Chancellor!
All right, I agree that Jar Jar was at least treated better than Finn on the surface.
That’s where Jar Jar failed while Finn succeeded. It doesn’t matter if he’s Jar Jar 2.0. The goal was to make him likable to audiences.
Oh yeah but even in his incompetence he was still integral to the plot that way and sets up the whole Empire while Finn’s role is superflous at this point. He starts off as the main character in a way then becomes less important as the film goes on
In my book, Finn starts off a main character, ends up a stepping stone for Rey. She even kisses him on his forehead for his help before going off to meet Luke.
Exactly, Even if Han got rejected all throughout ANH by Leia at least he was treated as an equal and not played for laughs all the time.
Even Luke got from action from his own sister. Meanwhile, Finn wasn’t even conscious to enjoy his forehead kiss.
He got even more action in the EU too and the new Eu as well while Finn got rejected even by the men in his life like Poe and all his Stormtrooper buddies.
Man… It’s a good thing Kylo Ren sliced his back and not his hand. ;B
oh for fucks sake!
Are you consciously channeling the comic-con panel from ‘Chasing Amy’? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMCki0Z_AlA
; )
I think you’re a beta mail cuck. Now STHU and go play with your legos, little boy.
what exactly did you think ruined the script? i’m curious
Well, it’s a copycat of A New Hope when we were expecting a sequel. They decided to enforce girl power with a female lead that isn’t a female character but written like a male character but stronger than anyone else in every department, a trope known as Mary Sue, famous in fanfictions written by little girls. The movie isn’t a Star Wars sequel it’s the adventures of Rey in Star Wars land. They didn’t write a plot and add characters that helps the movie go forward. They started with an all powerfull female Jedi as the lead, a black token as a sideckick, cheap clones of Vader, Tarkin, Yoda and Sidious. Only then, they tried to connect these characters with convoluted plot devices. KK wanted a feminist movie and that’s why the script doesn’t make any sense.
No offense, but it sounds to me like you just hated the fact that they had a female lead. Do you have some internalized misogyny?
If you can label me a misogynist then you shouldn’t have any difficulties in recognizing Force Awakens as a misandric movie.
All the male characters are complete losers:
-Luke abandoned everyone like a coward and let the New Order emerge without lifting a finger.
-Han Solo is a failed father who quit the resistance leaving his wife dealing with the New Order, he does illegal smuggling to survive…He’s worse than the good-for-nothing in the cantina in ANH.
-Kylo Ren is a cupcake who wears a mask to hide his weird face, he’s an emo tantrum throwing wannabe who gets beaten by a little girl.
-Finn, a coward, weak, always sweaty, always running away, always beaten by everybody failed stormtrooper
-Snoke, a hologram that looks like a grandma who’s been run over by a truck. It looks like they tried the most unimpressive look they could imagine
On the other hand all female characters are either super strong or in charge.
-Leia is in charge of the resisatnce, sh’es no princess, she’s a general
-Phasma, a female in charge of the male stormtroopers
-Rey, Mary SUe, you already know about her.
TL;DR
I glanced through your assessments of the characters, and they are simply incorrect. You should seek help on figuring out why you have internalized misogyny.
I wish you had internalized your misandry instead of sharing it on public boards.
Every time you type something, you embarrass yourself.
– Nothing suggest that Luke “abandoned” anyone. His academy was wiped out and he went searching for something. Guidance? Information? Inspiration? We don’t know. But it’s clear he had some sort of mission.
– We really don’t know what happened between Han, Ben, and Leia. We have no idea if he was actually part of the Resistance. And we don’t know what pressures came to bear on Ben. Don’t blame Han until you get the whole story.
– I’m not sure how to respond to your “cupcake” comment. Other than…well…you have issues.
– Finn is a coward? He defected from the First Order: a pretty gutsy move all things considered. He saw what they were and beat feet out of there. Would it have been more courageous to have simply followed orders and massacred all those people? Courage comes in many different forms.
– On Phasma. Do you really have an issue with females in charge? Would you have an issue with a female boss? My guess is that you’re not going to answer this question.
– Rey: god forbid we have a strong female character. Sounds like you have serious issues with women. Ah well, there’s nothing more alpha manly than complaining about girls on the Internet.
I’m not speculating on “what if” or upcoming novels that would plug the many plot holes. I only talk about what is shown in the movie.
-Luke is a coward, he quit without alerting his friends and doesn’t come back for decades while there is a raging war between the order and the resistance. No matter what they come up with in VIII, it will be stupid. What is it? His ship engine burned and he doesn’t have repair parts on that island?
-Leia and Han failed as parents, their son is an ugly emo retard that is too weak to be a Jedi. Han is worse because he even quite the resistance and resorts to smuggling like a loser. I guarantee you that now that he is dead they won’t even talk about what happened in details.
-Finn is a coward, he got sared after seeing his buddy being killed, he decided to run away from everything, not for justice and saving orphans, just running away from danger. Even Maz told you that this guy is sacred and all he does is run away. JJ Abrams saw a poster of “12 years a slave” and said Eureka, this is our stormtrooper.
-Phasma, I’m showing you that in this movie all the males are weak,cowards,quitters,losers and all the females are strong or in charge. This is called misandry.
-Rey isn’t a strong female character, she’s a Mary Sue, a one dimensional character that can do just about anything, because she knows everything without learning, she can defeat anybody without a single day of training. She has absolutely no backgrounf, she’s just a magical girl, most boring character of all.
“Luke is a coward, he quit without alerting his friends and doesn’t come back for decades while there is a raging war between the order and the resistance.”
Okay, well, that’s not shown in the movies. We don’t really know what he did or didn’t tell his friends. He wasn’t away for decades. If you’re going to only talk about what is shown in the movies, then only talk about what’s shown in the movies rather than what you assume.
“ugly emo retard”
How old are you? Seriously. How old?
“Finn is a coward, he got sared after seeing his buddy being killed, he decided to run away from everything, not for justice and saving orphans, just running away from danger.”
Actually, he seems to be ditching the First Order based on their practices more than anything. He says nothing about his dead comrade. His real moment seemed driven home when he saw a slew of civilians massacred.
Regarding Phasma: I’m still waiting for you to answer my previous question. Do you really have an issue with females in charge? Would you have an issue with a female boss? If you’re such a man, you won’t dodge a simple question.
“She has absolutely no backgrounf, she’s just a magical girl, most boring character of all.”
What a sophisticated analysis. You must do this professionally.
What you don’t understand is that this movie is misandric, because on one hand all women are in power, on the other hand all the males are powerless. I have no problem with believable powerful female characters as long as it’s not shoehorning a feminist agenda and emphasized by the presence of hapless males. If making all the males weak and stupid is the only way to highlight the girl, then there is a big problem to me. Maybe you enjoy this sort of chick flick but it’s not my taste and I don’t watch Star Wars to be fed with this.
“Maybe you enjoy this sort of chick flick but it’s not my taste and I don’t watch Star Wars to be fed with this.”
And yet you’re here spending your time discussing it. There are lots of movies that I don’t like. I’m not whining about them on Internet forums.
“Misandric” – Yeah, yeah, yeah. You learned a new word. I get it. But you’re wrong. If all the males in this film are powerless, how do you account for Snoke and Hux? They’re leading a pretty significant military movement. How is Han Solo “weak and powerless”? Let’s set aside this notion you have of him bailing on his family because you don’t know that this is what actually happened (and remember, we’re sticking with the movie on this one – your rules – don’t rely on your own perceived narrative). Instead, we see Han heading into the heart of the First Order in a last-ditch attempt to bring back his son. And he faced him down, and died, in the attempt. And he probably knew how dangerous he had become. If you can’t see this as strength, then you’re not a father. Or quite the model of the man that you claim to be defending. All the males are “weak and stupid” only if you choose to see them that way. And they’re not.
But I don’t think you’re really able to see past your own nose. You’ve made up your mind about this piece of “feminist agenda” and you’re going to dig your heels in on it. Way to stand up for the men, alpha dog. But please, stop advocating on behalf of he-man manly-men everywhere. You’re doing a fabulously poor job.
How was Rey written like a male character?
were people really that upset by it? i rewatched phantom menace with some friends the other day who had never seen it and they really enjoyed that kid’s performance..
I guess on these message boards people get upset…didn’t want to see Vader as a little kid?? I dunno? I loved TPM. If Disney was trying to distance from the prequels?
Had they recently sustained major head trauma, by chance? Dude…pull the other one: YOU don’t even believe that s__t, and you’re here selling to people who know better? Move on…
wasn’t selling anything to anyone- just noting the experience i had. i don’t think it’s a question of “knowing better”, just a matter of preference.
Wow, what a giant, vinegary douche you’re being. A disappointing movie just RUINED your whole life and has left you completely incapable of moving the fuck on 20 years later, but someone else says they liked it? HERESY! STONE THEM!!!!!
“Wow, what a giant, vinegary douche you’re being”
I sense a distinct lack of self-awareness.
Hahahaha!
Ahhh, blow it out yer keister, Cranker! The idea of defending the indefensible is absurd – so change the batteries in your marital aide, and goggle the anti-cheese version of Ep. I: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfQBdRcgizc
Chopping 45 minutes off this stinky cinematic suppository was a good start – Ric Olie & Captain Panaka would also make for great future chops; superimposing Jonathan Rhys-Meyers over Mr. Wizard Yippeewalker would be an even better step in the right direction*. I paid 16 x to see TPM in the summer of 1999. I tried. I really did. Even publically attempted to explain its ‘merits’ to no avail. Dialogue matters. Story matters. Having believable performances & lines that don’t sound as though they were delivered by post-op lobotomy patients = Kinda matters too…
*Check out his performance as Chiron in ‘Titus’ – he’d have owned Hayden Christiansen’s Anakin without uttering a single line
Arndt said there must be like only two lines of his script that made it in TFA
I’m guessing the Arndt script was based off the Lucas treatment since George was the one that hired him before Disney bought Lucasfilm. That is if I remember this correctly.
Trouble in Rogue One Land: Execs panicking b/c it’s the first ‘out-of-trilogy’ SW film ever released: http://pagesix.com/2016/05/30/disney-execs-in-a-panic-over-upcoming-star-wars-film/
seems like a cool and nice guy
This guy wrote Force Awakens
I know………shocking isn’t it. However, wasn’t is co-written by JJ, so he may have been the one calling the shots for Disney.
Familiar plot aside, the moments of character interaction and dialogue were well-written and well-directed in TFA, and these are the strengths of Kasdan and Abrams respectively. I think the weakest thing about TFA is the general plot, and this is where the absence of George was felt the most I think. With ESB for instance, Kasdan took the general story by Lucas and fine-tuned it into the masterpiece that it is today. Maybe coming up with an all-new story is just not his strong suit, but I still think Kasdan is top notch talent in his area of expertise.
Haha, TFA proves Kasdan has no good contribution in ESB. Look at the dialogues FFS. Did you enjoy the systematically misplaced jokes like “who talks first?”, “you got a boyfriend, cute boyfriend?” “that’s not how the for works”, “I worked in sanitation”…Or the characters telling us how they fell “I’m conflicted” the incomprehensible, stupid and pointless dialogue between Ren, Hux and Snoke. The systematic one liners and the colloquial languag. In the OT, they all spoke formal which adds to the charm of the movie and its mythological aspect.
I’m not the biggest fan of the film, but your first examples, as far as I’m aware, were added late in the game, after Kasdan had turned in the script. “Not how the Force works!” is just about universally loved, even by people like me who didn’t love the second half of the film. I will agree that the colloquialisms were a bit distracting (“WOO! DID YOU SEE THAT! DID. YOU. SEE. THAT!” “Droid, PLEASE!”).
“Oh YOU’RE cold !” Was the best line
My feeling is that the whole scene works in a way that the rest of the film sadly doesn’t.
Kasdan no good contribution to ESB? He wrote the script with all its dialogues (except a couple, whch was changed during the shots).
That ,,who talks first” line was actually improvised on screen by Oscar Isaac when they did reshots to lighten the tone of the opening. It wasnt in the script.
I woked in sanitation is not in the movie. It was an answer. ,,What was jour job when you were based here?” ,,Sanitation.” If you want to criticise dialogues, proper quotation is needed.
,,that’s not how the force works”
That was a great line. Very Han Solo.
,,Or the characters telling us how they are feeling “I’m conflicted”
Its one character. Considering he is a warrior turned to the dark side, its makes sense. Murdeing people and following a cult can lead to werid things.
,,incomprehensible, stupid and pointless dialogue between Ren, Hux and Snoke”
That is where you lost you objectivity, sorry. Non of those lines were pointless or stupid, and I really doubt anyone had problem with the comprehension.
Yes, I did actually (maybe except for the cute boyfriend bit). I understand your point, but I thought most of those moments actually worked well in TFA, especially with Poe’s and Han’s dialogue. I felt Poe’s courage was underscored by his fearlessness to crack a joke in the face of such danger, and Han’s comedic dialogue added to that lovable old man vibe and was tempered by more serious moments in other parts of the film. But to each his own.
Apart from his success in the early ’80s, ALL of Kasdan’s one-man-show scripts have been borderline terrible. He needs someone like Lucas or Lucas and Spielberg together to define the plot, although even his dialogue in the last decade or so has been weak.
Larry’s the man.
I had more respect for Kasdan before I saw TFA.
They will probably parade out Alden and give their official announcement that he is Han Solo at Celebration Europe in July.
I’m looking forward to that day to puke my brains out… A beautiful, sparkling Han Solo for everyone! Yeah!!! PUKE!!!!
I’m so sorry, I don’t mean to be rude but… I could care less about this horse %$^*… I say put money into Rogue One II or something beneficial like Boba Fett… This way they don’t try and force feed a pretty boy “sparkling” actor down Star Wars fans throats… Oh, did I offend anyone here? I’m so sorry, because once this crap-fest Han Solo film is released, you be crying like a bunch of baby kittens looking for their momma to suckle on the teet of redemption. Have fun with that concept…
For someone who doesn’t care, you sure seem to care
I care where the license goes in the hands of Disney. I am a Disney fan, don’t get me wrong… but they derailed Pirate of the Caribbean rather quickly and fear the same fate of Star Wars with this crap-fest sideshow movies. Do I care about the direction of Start Wars? Damn straight I do.
… and here we see the attention seeker, in its natural habitat ….
So this confirms that Episode 9 is being moved to December. Cool. Star Wars owns December now.
Yeah, Star Wars owns whatever it wants…
Star Wars owns us. We are slaves.
We’re all Finns of the Mouse Order.
I’m not buying this at all, suckers.
At least I am a happy slave…
Oh yes, I’m quite a happy slave as well.
Shh… I’m thinking about AWOLin’. The brainwashing’s starting to wear off. You want in?
I am sad. Bring SW back to kick off the summer, where it belongs.
There are too many movies in the summer now. They choke each other out. The SW movies will make much more money this way.
I haven’t checked the schedule yet but won’t this be competing with Disney’s own Black Panther or Infinity War which I think are both due in 2018?
Hm, well that takes away a lot of my apprehension’s about the Han Solo film. The fact that Kasdan was always on the film from Day #1 says a lot about the nature of the project. I almost wonder if Kasdan’s been waiting to do a Han film for a while now and is just taking the opportunity while he has it? Whatever’s going on, Disney is smart in realizing that Kasdan is the real boss of this show.
They should definitely call this movie “Han’s First Shot _ a star wars story”.