Explore the World of ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ – New Facts About the Making of the Movie and a Fun Quiz

September 27, 2018November 22, 2021 Val Trichkov (Viral Hide) #Star Wars, official news, Solo, SoloAStarWarsStory

Solo: A Star Wars Story is now available to own but the treats just keep on coming! We were sent a press release loaded with additional facts about the making of the movie which includes a “by the numbers” section, followed by a 30 question quiz about the movie! How well do you know Solo: A Star Wars Story? Ready to become an expert? Let’s make the jump to hyperspace…punch it Chewie!

FUN FACTS

VEHICLES & SPACESHIPS

Han’s speeder is dressed with items as diverse as a Morris Minor bonnet hinge, a set of baguette warmers and a re-fuelling nozzle from a Vickers VC10 aircraft.

The 1960s-style chrome bezels and switchgear for the dashboard were purchased at a second-hand auto parts sale.

The final design of the white stripes on Han’s speeder were the result of almost 100 variations of width, shape, length, color and position!

For stunt work, two of Han’s speeders were built on a custom-built chassis with a V8 engine, allowing them to reach over 100 mph!

During the shoot, more than 80 tires were used on the two stunt-driving speeders due to wear and tear.

Two of Moloch’s speeders were also built on a custom-built chassis with a V8 engine.

There is a real air intake from a helicopter incorporated into the Moloch vehicle grille design.

Three electric tugs were built, incorporating some triangular flood defense barriers for their front bodywork, which were obtained from a government surplus supplier.

The tugs were christened Huey, Dewey and Louie, after the Disney cartoon ducks because they looked quite like ducks. Their names are written in Aurebesh on the fronts.

A speeder that appears in the background in Corellia is very well traveled. It first appeared in Star Wars: The Force Awakens in Abu Dhabi; it was then revamped and traveled to Iceland for “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” and was then revamped for a second time and shipped to the U.K. for this film.

A Corellian factory vehicle and a mining vehicle in Kessel use a similar engine component to that which appears on Rey’s speeder in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

During the kit-bashing process, as part of the skiff design, parts of Anakin’s podracer were used on the concept model. When this model was scaled-up, these design details were also scaled up and can be seen on the finished vehicle.

The engine surrounds on the skiffs are actually made from the chrome wheel trims from a 1966 Singer Chamois car.

PRODUCTION DESIGN

The bridges in the frontier town of Fort Ypso were made “wobbly” using springs from a Land Rover.

The exterior Millennium Falcon build weighs 31 tons and has to be moved around using two cranes.

The interior Millennium Falcon set on C stage took three months to build. It is the largest interior Falcon set ever made on any Star Wars film due to the addition of new areas.

On the Interior Millennium Falcon cockpit set, rear projection screens have been utilized so that the actors can see and react to pre-designed animations flying and entering hyperspace!

CREATURES

Over 500 designs for the creatures were produced in the design process for the film.

Six Eyes is the most sophisticated mechanical head ever produced. It has 50 servos inside the head with on-board intelligence.

This is the first film to feature Chewbacca in a lead role, so to achieve this level of on-screen action, production produced eight suits and 10 heads.

PROPS

Nine copies of Beckett’s rifle were made. It is the rifle that ultimately becomes Han’s pistol.

Beckett, played by Woody Harrelson, has two pistols in the film. There are 10 copies of each one for various purposes, such as soft ones for the fight scenes.

Enfys Nest’s chainsaw pike had 14 copies of it made from a stunt version to ones that open. One version was even made with pyrotechnic capabilities.

There are 25 pairs of the iconic gold dice that hang in the Millennium Falcon. Three of these were made by Tiffany.

An R2 unit was turned into a BBQ fire pit for one of the scenes.

Moloch’s staff features a carving of many faces; one of these faces has glasses on as the designer decided to carve his own face into the staff.

In Dryden’s yacht there are display cabinets, and among all of the treasures in them are some that might be recognized from another film franchise: “Indiana Jones.” There are the Sankara Stones from “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” the fertility idol from “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and also the Holy Grail itself.

Over a hundred E-11 mudtrooper blasters were made for the battlefield scenes on Mimban.

VISUAL EFFECTS

The visual effects crew spent approximately 44 hours of airtime in helicopters in the Dolomites and Fuerteventura scouting, shooting plates and photo-modeling.

They also measured and mapped the interior and exterior of Fawley Power Station and most of the surrounding site with sophisticated laser scanning equipment (Lidar). Around 200 acres in total!

The visual effects team digitally scanned over 500 characters, props and sets.

The on-set data wrangling team captured photo reference (still images), witness camera data (small video cameras), and set survey data along with other reference information. This data will total about 40TB, which will be sent to Industrial Light & Magic, who will use the data to assist in creating the visual effects shots for the movie.

SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY IN NUMBERS

With the in-home release of Solo: A Star Wars Story about to take a lightspeed leap into homes, we step behind the camera to bring you these number-crunching facts on the galactic adventures of the beloved space scoundrel, Han Solo.

500
More than 500 creature designs were created for Solo: A Star Wars Story. “I feel like this movie has more creatures than any of the other Star Wars movies,” explains Alden Ehrenreich, who plays the young Han Solo. “With this movie, you get the same feeling as when you saw the cantina in the original movie – although it feels like that whole universe just expanded ten-fold.”

6
It was no easy task for Alden Ehrenreich to land the iconic role of Han Solo. “I had six months of auditions,” admits the actor. “Every audition involved a different scene, which was helpful, but it was a long process.”

2
Did you know that British actress Phoebe Waller-Bridge had two stunt doubles for her role as the droid, L3-37? “They couldn’t find a single stunt woman who had my exact dimensions,” reveals Waller-Bridge. “Instead, one stunt woman was the top half of L3-37 and another was the bottom half. They had to do shots of L3’s legs with one person and then they had to again with the top person!”

1000
The costume design team, headed by David Crossman and Glyn Dillon, made more than 1,000 costumes for Solo: A Star Wars Story.

30
A total of 30 capes were created by the costume team for Lando Calrissian’s slick closet in the Millennium Falcon. “I love Lando’s style,” enthuses Donald Glover. “I think I’ve been influenced a lot by Lando. He has a style with an eye towards leisure, which I’ve really started to get into. You’d be surprised how hard it is to find a good cape.”

135
The run-time of Solo: A Star Wars Story is approximately 135 minutes. That’s more than two hours of galactic space-smuggling fun!

31
The exterior Millennium Falcon set built for The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi was repurposed for use on Solo: A Star Wars Story. It weighs a hefty 31 tons.

3
The interior Millennium Falcon set took three months to build. “It’s very sleek and cool inside the new Falcon,” enthuses Phoebe Waller-Bridge.

2
The filming of Solo: A Star Wars Story took place mostly at Pinewood Studios in England, as well as two foreign locations: the Dolomites of Italy and Fuerteventura, the second largest of Spain’s Canary Islands.

525
The movie’s creative team was thrilled at the inclusion of an iconic speeder chase in the story. “We’ve seen a lot of chases within the Star Wars franchise, but we have never seen a speeder chase,” reveals special effects supervisor Dominic Tuohy. The team constructed Han’s speeder as a four-wheel-drive vehicle with a 525 brake-horsepower engine.

400
Do you know how old Wookiees live to be? “A Wookiee’s life span is about 400 years,” reveals Joonas Suotamo. “Relatively speaking, Chewbacca is quite youthful – but he’s about to embark on a new set of adventures that are surely going to give him a few gray hairs.”

24
The mud planet of Mimban is the iconic location where Han Solo first meets his Wookiee co-pilot, Chewbacca. The set for the bleak prison pit measured 24 feet square and 18 feet deep, and was filled with a sticky, sludgy mud.

30
A talented team of 30 artists controlled the complicated performance of the alien underworld boss Mother Proxima. During the dark scenes at the beginning of the movie, 20 performers were submerged in the water to move the character around the dank and dismal purpose-built environment.

14
The story of the most beloved scoundrel in the galaxy is on a light-speed course for homes Digitally in HD and 4K Ultra HD™ and via Movies Anywhere on September 14. The Blu-ray 4K Ultra HD™, Blu-ray™, DVD and On-Demand editions of the galactic adventure will follow soon afterwards, on September 25.

THE ULTIMATE QUIZ ON SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY

To celebrate the in-home release of Solo: A Star Wars Story, Lucasfilm have compiled the ultimate movie quiz for Star Wars super-fans. Is the Force on your side? Put yourself to the test with these tricky galactic teasers…

SECTION #1: A LONG TIME AGO, IN A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY…

A Hutt-sized collection of questions based on Solo: A Star Wars Story.

QUESTION #1

Who is the first character audiences see in Solo: A Star Wars Story?

QUESTION #2

What is the color of Han Solo’s lucky dice?

QUESTION #3

What is Beckett’s first name?

QUESTION #4

Which character is described as ‘The Beast’ in the movie?

QUESTION #5

Which Star Wars character wants to open up a cantina with their share of the loot?

QUESTION #6

There’s an Ardennian pilot in the movie. How many arms does he have?

QUESTION #7

Which character is traveling on his star yacht when we first meet him?

QUESTION #8

Who is the most amazing woman Lando Calrissian has ever known?

QUESTION #9

Which two characters are sent off to be clipped and tagged in the movie?

QUESTION #10

How old is Chewbacca in Solo: A Star Wars Story?

QUESTION #11

Which character uses a ‘custom cape’ to put out a fire on the Millennium Falcon?

QUESTION #12

According to Han Solo, what is the name of the best street racer on Corellia?

QUESTION #13

Han Solo says the team did the Kessel Run in how many parsecs?

QUESTION #14

What is the color of the lightsaber fans see at the end of the movie?

SECTION #2: THE NAME GAME!

Can you tackle these tricky brainteasers? Hint: The answers to these questions are all names!

QUESTION #1

What is the name of the mysterious leader of the Cloud-Riders?

QUESTION #2

Star Wars icon Warwick Davis plays a character in the movie. Can you name him?

QUESTION #3

What is the name of the card game in Solo: A Star Wars Story?

QUESTION #4

A father and son duo are the movie’s screenwriters. What are their names?

QUESTION #5

Can you name the actor who plays a character named Tak in the movie?

SECTION #3: PLANETARY PROBLEMS!

Your third mission involves these interplanetary puzzles…

QUESTION #1

Can you name the mining planet where Han Solo grew up?

QUESTION #2

What’s the name of the muddy planet where Han Solo first meets Beckett?

QUESTION #3

The movie’s epic train heist takes place on which planet?

QUESTION #4

What is the name of the desert planet in the movie?

QUESTION #5

The spice mines in the movie can be found on which planet?

SECTION #4: WHO SAID WHAT?

The final task… Can you match the movie quote to the correct character in Solo: A Star Wars Story?

THE CHARACTERS

Han Solo
L3-37
Lando Calrissian
Dryden Vos

QUOTE #1

“I don’t think I’m ever gonna learn!”

QUOTE #2

“You might want to buckle up, baby!”

QUOTE #3

“You just made a clicking sound with your mouth!”

QUOTE #4

“I’m sure you’ve noticed that Lando has feelings for me!”

QUOTE #5

“He is arrogant and he is hungry!”

THE ANSWERS!

SECTION #1: A LONG TIME AGO, IN A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY…

QUESTION #1: Han Solo
QUESTION #2: Gold
QUESTION #3: Tobias
QUESTION #4: Chewbacca
QUESTION #6: Rio Durant
QUESTION #7: Four
QUESTION #8: Dryden Vos
QUESTION #9: His mother
QUESTION #10: Han Solo and Chewbacca
QUESTION #11: 190 years old
QUESTION #12: Qi’ra
QUESTION #13: Needles
QUESTION #14: 12 parsecs
QUESTION #15: Red

SECTION #2: THE NAME GAME!

QUESTION #1: Enfys Nest
QUESTION #2: Weazel
QUESTION #3: Sabacc
QUESTION #4: Lawrence and Jonathan Kasdan
QUESTION #5: Anthony Daniels

SECTION #3: PLANETARY PROBLEMS!

QUESTION #1: Corellia
QUESTION #2: Mimban
QUESTION #3: Vandor
QUESTION #4: Savareen
QUESTION #5: Kessel

SECTION #4: WHO SAID WHAT?

QUOTE #1: Han Solo
QUOTE #2: Lando Calrissian
QUOTE #3: Lady Proxima
QUOTE #4: L3-37
QUOTE #5: Dryden Vos

THE RESULTS ARE IN! HOW DID YOU DO?

If you correctly answered 21-30 questions…
Congratulations, space ace! You’re definitely top of the class when it comes to Star Wars, Han Solo and the Kessel Run. Why not reward yourself with a viewing of your favorite film. What’s that? Solo: A Star Wars Story, of course!

If you correctly answered 11-20 questions…
The Force is definitely strong with this one. Great work! You certainly know a lot about Han, Chewie, Lando and Qi’ra – but if you want to call yourself a true Star Wars fan, you’ll have to do a little more research and try again. May the Force be with you.

If you correctly answered 0-10 questions…
Oh dear! Did you spend too much time laughing at L3-37’s witty one-liners instead of concentrating on the movie? You’re not the most sharp-eyed viewer of Solo: A Star Wars Movie – but don’t let that worry you. Try again and we’re sure you’ll beat your old score with ease.

To cool down from that quiz which at times may have been more intense than the Kessel Run, check out this brief video ‘Star Wars Knowledge” which shows both Lawrence and Jon Kasdan’s perspectives, both now being a part of the Star Wars family and legacy.