UPDATE! ‘Lando’: Donald Glover and Stephen Glover Writing Disney Plus Series; Justin Simien Exited Last Summer
A long-awaited update on the Lando series has finally arrived, with young Lando Calrissian actor Donald Glover set to write the upcoming Star Wars Disney Plus show’s script alongside his brother Stephen.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter promoting this weekend’s release of The Haunted Mansion, director Justin Simien, who was set to write the series, said that he was a bit in the dark about the future of the Lando series due to a lack of a status update on the project. He had stated that he developed concepts for the series, but the show had stalled development until Glover could become available for filming:
“I am attached, I think, but I don’t really know. [Laughs.] The last thing I was told was that they loved it but needed to put a pin in it until they could figure out everybody’s availability. I haven’t investigated further, but I’m not an idiot. I’m not alone in that experience. But I can’t help but wonder, ‘Am I too Black? Am I too queer? And people just don’t want to say that?’ Because it seems like I develop things with these companies and they just never happen for reasons unknown.”
Today, however, had an interesting update. According to Above The Line reporter Jeff Sneider, Simien actually exited development on the series on his own terms last year when he opted to direct The Haunted Mansion, while development on the series had stalled. Since then, it has been determined that his services will no longer be required for the Disney Plus series, as Donald and Stephen Glover will be taking over writing the show. The Glovers have secretly been attached to Lando for several months at this time, with Simien being aware of the change in creative leads on the series. It should be noted that their hiring came well before the ongoing WGA strike and subsequent SAG-AFTRA strike, with all writing on the series halting when the picket signs went up early this May. Presumably, development on the project will remain on hold until after those strikes end.
Both brothers did extensive writing work on the critically-acclaimed FX series Atlanta, which finished airing in November of last year. The Glovers have also written the FX series Swarm (which Stephen also stars in), while Donald is also acting in Amazon Prime Video’s streaming television remake of the 2005 film Mr. and Mrs. Smith this November. Donald played the series lead of Atlanta, and the show was one of the biggest projects that was on his schedule (with Kathleen Kennedy noting that availability was the biggest issue with getting the series off the ground). With the series finished, he can presumably put all his efforts into reprising his role as the future Baron of Cloud City. As of this time, it is unclear if original Lando Calrissian actor Billy Dee Williams may also be involved in the series, although he hinted at the possibility that we haven’t seen the last of his version of Lando during the promotion of The Rise of Skywalker in 2019.
Lucasfilm declined to comment further after Star Wars News Net reached out.
UPDATE!
Variety has backed Jeff Sneider’s story. Their report on the subject indicates that the Glovers are solely credited for writing the series, possibly meaning that Justin Simien’s existing work for the series is not necessarily being built upon.
Star Wars: Lando is in development at Disney Plus.
Grant has been a fan of Star Wars for as long as he can remember, having seen every movie on the big screen. When he’s not hard at work with his college studies, he keeps himself busy by reporting on all kinds of Star Wars news for SWNN and general movie news on the sister site, Movie News Net. He served as a frequent commentator on SWNN’s The Resistance Broadcast.
