With Solo: A Star Wars Story a mere few months away from arriving on screens, it has been revealed that George Lucas was already developing a Han Solo movie before Disney bought Lucasfilm in 2012.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Solo co-writer Lawrence Kasdan revealed he was hired by George Lucas to write a Han Solo film before the big Disney purchase of Lucasfilm.
However, after the purchase was complete, Lawrence was shifted towards writing The Force Awakens and half of his writing duties were subsequently handed to his son, Jon.
[George Lucas]
"I said, 'I don't know, do we still want to do this Han thing?'" Kasdan said.
"And they said, 'Yeah! We really want you to go ahead with Han'. And I said, 'Well, my son, Jon, is very enthusiastic and full of ideas about the saga'. And he had directed two movies and had done other things.
"'What if he came on and worked with me? Because, that would give me a shot in the arm'. And so, that's exactly what happened. They made a deal with Jon, and he and I have been writing since for three years."
Solo: A Star Wars Story follows the adventures of a young Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich).
The movie is directed by Ron Howard – who took over from Phil Lord and Chris Miller – and also stars Emilia Clarke, Woody Harrelson, Donald Glover and Paul Bettany.
Solo: A Star Wars Story will be released in the UK and the US on May 25.
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