Despite being just five months away from release, we’re yet to see a first trailer for Disney and Lucasfilm’s next Star Wars offering, Solo: A Star Wars Story.
However, while we wait, we do have some comments from Paul Bettany, a late addition to the cast who came on during the film’s reshoots to take over the role previously portrayed by Michael K. Williams during the original Phil Lord and Chris Miller version.
“It’s Han Solo’s story, and of course his story would be a caper,” Bettany tells Total Film (via The Playlist). “On one level it’s a gangster movie. That’s really interesting, because it’s within the canon but really different. It’s fucking Han Solo!”
Given that it takes place before A New Hope, with Han as a smuggler, it’s not too surprising that it is being compared to a gangster movie, given that Han is likely to be mixing in some pretty shifty circles. An appearance from the galaxy’s most feared gangster Jabba the Hutt is surely on the cards?
Meanwhile, as speculation continues over how much of the movie was reshot by new director Ron Howard – with some estimates going as high as 80% – Bettany has revealed that Lucasfilm was so impressed by Howard’s work that he reworked much more than was originally planned:
“His staging ability is so fucking brilliant…I think he went in and he was like a laser, working out what needed to be done when he looked at the footage. And then, as things moved on, everybody felt so secure with him. And they gave him more. He reshot a lot more than was originally intended.”
Solo: A Star Wars Story sees Alden Ehrenreich (Hail, Caesar!) as the famous smuggler, Donald Glover (Atlanta) as Lando Calrissian, Woody Harrelson (War for the Planet of the Apes) as Solo’s mentor Beckett, Joonas Suotamo (Star Wars: The Last Jedi) as Chewbacca and Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag), Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones), Thandie Newton (Westworld), Paul Bettany (Avengers: Infinity War), Ian Kenny (Sing Street), and Warwick Davis (Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi) in as-yet-unrevealed roles. It is set for release on May 25th 2018.
Originally published December 23, 2017. Updated April 19, 2018.
