It’s Official!
Lucasfilm has announced that Community and Atlanta star Donald Glover will indeed be playing the role of Lando Calrissian in the Han Solo standalone film
It’s set to begin production early next year in London.
Reports from a couple months ago said that Donald was a frontrunner for the role, but his television commitments were said to be a possible hurdle. Obviously, he’s landed the role and we’re beyond happy to see him land a massive role like this.
He recently took a small parts in Marvel’s Spider-Man and Ridley Scott’s The Martian.
Below is the full press release from Lucasfilm.
Hello, what have we here?
Lucasfilm announced today that Donald Glover, an acclaimed actor, award-winning writer, and Grammy-nominated artist, will be playing the part of Lando Calrissian in the still-untitled Han SoloStar Wars film, helmed by directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. Glover will join Alden Ehrenreich — previously cast as Han Solo — in bringing two iconic Star Wars characters back to the big screen, but at a time in their lives previously unexplored. This new film depicts Lando in his formative years as a scoundrel on the rise in the galaxy’s underworld — years before the events involving Han, Leia, and Darth Vader in The Empire Strikes Back and his rise to Rebel hero in Return of the Jedi.
“We’re so lucky to have an artist as talented as Donald join us,” said Lord and Miller. “These are big shoes to fill, and an even bigger cape, and this one fits him perfectly, which will save us money on alterations. Also, we’d like to publicly apologize to Donald for ruining Comic-Con for him forever.”
Glover is best known for creating and starring in the critically acclaimed FX series Atlanta (which had the highest premiere numbers for any basic cable comedy show since 2013), as well as for starring in four seasons of the showCommunity, and for his Grammy-nominated album Because the Internet, performed under the name Childish Gambino. In addition, Glover appeared in the Academy Award-nominated The Martian, and will be seen in the upcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming.
The untitled Han Solo movie is set for release in 2018.
Chris Miller and Philip Lord (21 Jump Street, Lego Movie) are writing/directing the film with Alden Ehrenreich (Hail! Caesar) set to play the scruffy looking nerf-herder known as Han Solo.
There is still a casting search going on for the female lead, which is said to be woman of color and led us to believe the role was fellow space pirate Sana Starros aka the future Mrs. Solo.
Actresses vying the role were reportedly said to be Tessa Thompson (Thor: Ragnarok, Dear White People, Creed), Zoe Kravitz (Mad Max: Fury Road, X-Men: First Class, Dope) and Indian-British actress Naomi Scott (Power Rangers, Terra Nova, The Martian).
More casting news is sure to follow now that they’d found their secondary male lead.
SOURCE: LUCASFILM