Solo: A Star Wars Story

Solo: A Star Wars Story, or simply Solo, is a 2018 American space Western film based on the Star Wars character Han Solo. Directed by Ron Howard, it was produced by Lucasfilm and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, and is the second of the Star Wars anthology films following 2016's Rogue One. A stand-alone installment set prior to the events of A New Hope, it explores the early adventures of Han Solo and Chewbacca, who also meet a young Lando Calrissian, as they are involved in a heist within the criminal underworld. The film stars Alden Ehrenreich as Solo, alongside Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Donald Glover, Thandie Newton, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Joonas Suotamo, and Paul Bettany.

George Lucas began development on a young Han Solo film in 2012. Lucas commissioned Lawrence Kasdan to write the screenplay, and Kasdan was later joined by his son, Jonathan. Principal photography began in January 2017 at Pinewood Studios, under the direction of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. The pair left the project in June 2017 after reportedly being fired over "creative differences" with Lucasfilm, and Howard took over directing duties. With an estimated budget of at least $250 million, it is one of the most expensive films ever made.

The film had its world premiere in Los Angeles on May 10, 2018, and also screened on May 15 at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, before its United States release on May 25, 2018 in RealD 3D and IMAX 3D. It received generally positive reviews, with critics praising the cast (particularly Ehrenreich and Glover), visuals and action sequences, although many criticized the pacing and noted that the film added "nothing new" to the Star Wars franchise.

Plot
The galaxy is in a state of disorder, with criminal syndicates competing for valuable resources like the hyper fuel coaxium. On the shipbuilding world of Corellia, orphaned children are made to steal in order to survive as a young Han and his lover Qi'ra long to escape the clutches of a local criminal gang. They successfully bribe an Imperial officer with stolen coaxium in exchange for passage on an outgoing transport, but Qi'ra is apprehended by their pursuers before she can board. Han vows to return for her and joins the Imperial Navy as a flight cadet.

Three years later, Han has been expelled from the Imperial Flight Academy for insubordination. While serving as an infantryman during a battle on the planet Mimban, he encounters a gang of criminals posing as Imperial soldiers led by Tobias Beckett. He tries to blackmail them into taking him with them, but Beckett has him arrested for desertion and thrown into a pit to be fed to a beast – a Wookiee named Chewbacca. Han and Chewbacca work together to escape their confinement. In need of extra hands, Beckett rescues them and enlists them in the gang's plot to steal a shipment of coaxium on the planet Vandor. The plan goes awry when the marauder Enfys Nest and her Cloud-Riders show up, resulting in the deaths of two crew members and the destruction of the coaxium.

Beckett reveals he was ordered to steal the shipment for Dryden Vos, a high-ranking crime boss in the Crimson Dawn syndicate. Han and Chewbacca volunteer to help him steal another shipment. They travel to Vos' yacht where Han finds Qi'ra, who has joined Crimson Dawn. Han offers a risky plan to steal unrefined coaxium from the mines on Kessel; Vos insists that Qi'ra, his top lieutenant, accompanies them. Qi'ra leads the team to Lando Calrissian, an accomplished smuggler and pilot who she hopes will lend them his ship. Han challenges Lando to a game of sabacc, with the wager being Lando's ship. Lando cheats to win, but is convinced to join the mission in exchange for a share of the profits. The team boards his ship, the Millennium Falcon, and heads for Kessel. After reaching the planet and infiltrating the mine, Lando's droid co-pilot L3-37 instigates a riot. They use the confusion to steal a consignment of coaxium, but L3 is severely damaged and Lando is injured during the escape. Han pilots the ship through the Kessel Run, taking a dangerous route through an uncharted maelstrom in order to avoid an Imperial blockade. Although the Falcon receives severe damage during the journey, Han successfully navigates the run and the ship heads to Savareen to process the fuel.

Being confronted by Enfys, who had tracked them from Vandor, Lando leaves aboard the Falcon. After a confrontation, Enfys reveals she and her crew are not pirates but rebels trying to prevent the syndicates and the Empire from gaining power. Sympathetic to their cause, Han tries to trick Vos. Vos, who had been alerted to their treachery by Beckett, sends all of his soldiers to kill Enfys and the Cloud-Riders. However, Han had anticipated Beckett's deception; the Cloud Riders kill all of Vos’s guards, leaving him defenseless. Beckett takes Chewbacca hostage and escapes with the coaxium, betraying Vos. Qi'ra kills Vos and urges Han to save Chewbacca from Beckett and says she will join him shortly.

Alone aboard Vos's yacht, Qi'ra contacts his superior, Maul; she informs him of the mission's failure and assumes Vos's position. Han catches up with and kills Beckett. Han and Chewbacca deliver the coaxium to Enfys, who offers Han the chance to join the rebellion against the Empire. Han declines, but is given a single canister of fuel, enough to buy his own ship.

Han and Chewbacca track down Lando, challenging him to a second sabacc game for possession of the Falcon, which Han wins. Han and Chewbacca head to Tatooine, where a gangster is putting together a crew for a heist.

Cast

 * Main article: List of Star Wars cast members

\ Erin Kellyman appears as Enfys Nest, the leader of a gang of pirates called Cloud Riders. Jon Favreau voices Rio Durant, "a very cool and important alien character" and member of Beckett's crew, and Linda Hunt voices Lady Proxima. Screenwriter Jonathan Kasdan and first assistant director Toby Hefferman portray Tag Greenley and Bink Otauna, respectively, two characters that first appeared in the Star Wars Legends' comics published by Dark Horse Comics. Ian Kenny portrays Rebolt while Clint Howard portrays Ralakili. Additionally, Anthony Daniels cameos as Tak, a slave with Chewbacca, Kiran Shah cameos as Karjj and Warwick Davis briefly reprises his role from the film The Phantom Menace as Weazel. Ray Park reprises his role as Darth Maul, credited as Maul with Sam Witwer providing the voice performance for the character.
 * Alden Ehrenreich as Han Solo: A cynical smuggler who is a part of Beckett’s crew. When asked how Solo differs from the Solo of latter Star Wars films, Ehrenreich stated, "I think the main thing that's different is that the Han we meet in this film is more of an idealist. He has certain dreams that he follows, and we watch how it affects him as those dreams meet new realities – realities that are harder and more challenging than he'd expected." The original Han Solo actor, Harrison Ford, met with Ehrenreich, giving him some insight and words of advice.
 * Woody Harrelson as Tobias Beckett: A criminal and Han's mentor. The character of Beckett was based on Long John Silver from Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson.
 * Emilia Clarke as Qi'ra: Han's former lover. Describing her character, Clarke said: "She has a couple of guises, but essentially she is just fighting to stay alive. If you've got a really glamorous lady in a really sordid environment, you kind of know the glamor is hiding a few rough roads." With regard to her character's relationship with Solo, Clarke offered that "They grew up as comrades, essentially. They grew up as pals, as partners in crime. There is obviously the romantic side of things. But they grew up together. So they were kids together."
 * Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian: A smuggler on the rise in the galaxy's underworld. The original Lando actor, Billy Dee Williams, met with Glover, giving him some insight and words of advice about the character.e, a fellow criminal and member of her husband's crew.
 * Phoebe Waller-Bridge as L3-37: Lando's droid companion and navigator.
 * Joonas Suotamo as Chewbacca: Han's Wookiee sidekick and best friend, who also serves as his first mate.
 * Paul Bettany as Dryden Vos: A ruthless crime lord who has a history with Beckett. Michael K. Williams had originally been cast, but he was removed from the final film after being unable to return to set during the film's reshoots. Bettany was cast in his place, with the character being reworked from a motion-capture alien (described by Williams as half-mountain lion, half-human) to a scarred near-human alien lifeform.

Development
In February 2013, Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed the development of two Star Wars standalone films, each individually written by Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg. Shortly after, it was reported that Disney was working on two films featuring Han Solo and Boba Fett. Disney CFO Jay Rasulo described the standalone films as origin stories.Kathleen Kennedy explained that the standalone films would not crossover with the films of the sequel trilogy, stating, "George [Lucas] was so clear as to how that works. The canon that he created was the Star Wars saga. Right now, Episode VII falls within that canon. The spin-off movies, or we may come up with some other way to call those films, they exist within that vast universe that he created. There is no attempt being made to carry characters (from the standalone films) in and out of the saga episodes. Consequently, from the creative standpoint, it's a roadmap that George made pretty clear." In April 2015, Lucasfilm and Kennedy announced that the standalone films would be referred to as the Star Wars Anthology series.

In July 2015, Lucasfilm announced that an Anthology film, focusing "on how [a] young Han Solo became the smuggler, thief, and scoundrel whom Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi first encountered in the cantina at Mos Eisley", would be released on May 25, 2018. The project would be directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller from a script by Lawrence Kasdan and Jon Kasdan. Kennedy would serve as a producer on the film, with Lawrence Kasdan and Jason McGatlin executive producers; Allison Shearmur and Simon Emanuel also produce. The Han Solo project was separate from a film that was originally being developed by Josh Trank, which was pushed back to an unconfirmed date. Solo's friend, the Wookiee, Chewbacca, would also appear in the film. In May 2016, Lawrence Kasdan stated that filming would start in January 2017.

Casting
In January 2016, a shortlist of actors was revealed for the role of young Han Solo, including Miles Teller, Ansel Elgort, Dave Franco, Jack Reynor, Scott Eastwood, Logan Lerman, Emory Cohen and Blake Jenner. In March 2016, it was reported that Alden Ehrenreich, Reynor and Taron Egerton were on a shortlist of actors considered for the young Han Solo role. In May 2016, Ehrenreich was reported to have been cast as the young Han Solo, and was revealed in the role at Star Wars Celebration: Celebration Europe III two months later. Miller called casting the role one of "the hardest casting challenges of all time" adding they "saw over 3,000 people for the part".

By the following October, Tessa Thompson, Naomi Scott, Zoë Kravitz, Emilia Clarke, Kiersey Clemons, Jessica Henwick and Adria Arjona were being considered for the female lead, while Donald Glover was being considered to play a young Lando Calrissian. Glover was confirmed for Calrissian shortly after, with Clarke cast as the female lead the following month.

In early January 2017, Woody Harrelson was revealed to be in negotiations to portray Han Solo's mentor, and was confirmed to be appearing in the film shortly after. Christian Bale had previously been in discussions for the role. A subsequent interview with Harrelson bolstered speculation that he may be specifically playing Star Wars Legends character Garris Shrike, but Harrelson revealed the character's name as Beckett in March 2017. In February 2017, Phoebe Waller-Bridge joined the cast in an undisclosed role, said to be "a CGI-driven performance" similar to Alan Tudyk in Rogue One as the droid K-2SO. Additionally, it was reported that Thandie Newton was in negotiations to star in the film. Waller-Bridge and Newton were confirmed as being cast by the end of February, alongside the announcement that Joonas Suotamo would appear as Chewbacca, reprising the role from Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Star Wars: The Last Jedi that he shared with original Chewbacca actor Peter Mayhew. Michael K. Williams entered talks to join the film in early March 2017, and was confirmed shortly after, portraying a half-human, half-animal creature. By the end of the month, Ian Kenny had joined the cast. Warwick Davis was confirmed as part of the cast by the end of July 2017.

Filming
Filming began on January 30, 2017, at Pinewood Studios, under the working title Star Wars: Red Cup. By February 10, the film had spent $54.5 million on production. Lucasfilm announced that principal photography started on February 20, 2017. Bradford Young serves as the cinematographer for the film. In May 2017, filming moved to Tre Cime di Lavaredo and Monte Piana in the Dolomites in Veneto, Italy, and to the Canary Islands. Lucasfilm replaced editor Chris Dickens with Pietro Scalia and hired an acting coach for Ehrenreich because they were unhappy with his performance.

On June 20, 2017, citing "creative differences", Lucasfilm and Lord and Miller jointly announced their intent to part ways, with a new director "to be announced soon".It was reported that the directors were fired after Kennedy and Kasdan disagreed with their shooting style; Lord and Miller believed they were hired to make a comedy film, while Lucasfilm was looking for the duo to add "a comedic touch" to the space fantasy. Lucasfilm also felt that the directors were encouraging too much improvisation from the actors, which was believed to be "shifting the story off-course" from the Kasdans' script. To appease Kasdan, who was unhappy with scenes not being filmed "word for word... Lord and Miller would do several takes exactly as written and then shoot additional takes." Lord and Miller refused to compromise on the way to approach certain scenes, such as filming a scene from fewer angles than what Lucasfilm was expecting, thereby reducing the options available in editing and leading to a strained relationship with Lucasfilm. The duo were also unhappy when Kasdan was brought to the London set, feeling he became a "shadow director". The decision to remove Lord and Miller from the project was made after a short hiatus in filming taken to review the footage. Additional weeks of filming had been planned.

It was reported that Star Wars creator George Lucas's close friend Ron Howard, who previously had turned down an offer from Lucas himself to direct Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, was a frontrunner to step in as director. Joe Johnston and Kasdan were also being considered, though Directors Guild of America rules state that a replacement for a director may not be someone already involved in the production. Two days later, it was announced that Howard would take over directing duties for the remaining three-and-a-half weeks of scheduled principal photography as well as the scheduled five weeks of reshoots. On being hired, Howard wrote, "I'm beyond grateful to add my voice to the Star Wars Universe... I hope to honor the great work already done & help deliver on the promise of a Han Solo film." Howard was expected to arrive in London on June 26 to complete filming. During the film's reshoots, actor Michael K. Williams was unable to return to the production, due to a schedule conflict with filming The Red Sea Diving Resort, resulting in his part being cut. Williams stated the reshoots for his character were "to match the new direction which the producers wanted Ron to carry the film in", and that he would not have been available again until November 2017, and the production did not want to wait for his availability in order to still be able to release in May 2018.

Lucas, a friend and mentor of Howard due to previous collaborations, made a surprise visit to the set to encourage his friend on his first day shooting. While originally meant as a short meeting, Lucas ended up spending the whole day with the crew. While Lucas did not mean to interfere, at some point he forgot and asked "Why doesn't Han just do this?" Upon hearing Lucas' suggestion, Howard decided to film it and include it in the film. On October 17, 2017, Howard announced that principal photography had been completed; he also revealed the official title of the film as Solo: A Star Wars Story.

In March 2018, after it was reported Howard had reshot around 70% of the film, it was announced that the original directors Lord and Miller would not challenge for director credit and instead agreed to receive the title of executive producer on the project. Post-production was wrapped on April 22, 2018.

Music
In July 2017, John Powell was announced as the main composer of the film's score. Longtime Star Wars composer John Williams composed and conducted the Han Solo theme titled, "The Adventures of Han" for the film. Powell began writing the music in late 2017 after finishing his work on Ferdinand. In December 2017, Williams wrote two musical pieces and combined them to create Han's theme. The following month, Williams recorded the demos with the Recording Arts Orchestra of Los Angeles at the Newman Scoring Stage. Powell interpolated Williams' new theme into his score, as well as incorporating previous music by Williams from previous films, including the Star Wars main title, and several motifs and cues from A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and The Phantom Menace.

Powell revealed the track listing on his Instagram page. Walt Disney Records released the soundtrack album on May 25.

All music composed by John Powell, except where noted.

Release
Solo: A Star Wars Story had its world premiere on May 10, 2018 in Los Angeles, and also screened on May 15, 2018 at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.The film debuted in selected countries on May 23rd and had its US release on May 25, 2018, the 41st anniversary of the release of Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, in which Harrison Ford first appeared as Han Solo.

Marketing
A "sneak peek" TV spot was released during Super Bowl LII on February 4, 2018. It became the most popular Super Bowl trailer on YouTube with 8 million views. It also had 5.9 million views on Facebook.

The first official teaser trailer was released on February 5, 2018. Graeme McMillan of The Hollywood Reporter criticized the trailer as "dull", and compared it negatively to the look of Rogue One, opining that the visuals "should be the hive of scum and villainy of the Cantina of the very first movie, filled with colorful aliens and things happening all over the place. That busyness, the sense of danger and hustle, feels appropriate for Solo in a way that what's on show in this first trailer simply doesn't." He also noted that several plot elements presented in the trailer were reminiscent of The Han Solo Trilogy, a series of novels published in 1997 and 1998.

In early March 2018, French artist Hachim Bahous asserted that Disney had plagiarized a series of album covers he designed for Sony Music's label Legacy Recordings in France with character posters for the film. Disney stated they were investigating the alleged plagiarism and that the Solo posters had been produced by an outside vendor.

In the weeks leading up to the film, EA Capital Games announced that new characters based on the film will eventually be collectible and playable in the mobile game Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, including a younger Han Solo and Chewbacca as they appeared in the film. Both characters became unlockable on May 17, 2018, via a two-day limited-time event titled "Preparation Perfection".

Box office
As of May 27, 2018, Solo: A Star Wars Story has grossed $83.3 million in the United States and Canada, and $65 million in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $148.3 million. With an estimated production budget of at least $250 million (and some sources listing it at more than $300 million), the film will need to gross at least $500 million worldwide in order to break-even.

United States and Canada
Initial projections three weeks before its release had the film grossing around $170 million over its four-day Memorial Day opening weekend. Deadline Hollywood noted that it was tracking higher than the previous Star Wars spin-off film, Rogue One (which debuted to $155 million), and had more interest from audiences than the likes of fellow blockbusters Spider-Man: Homecoming and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.After its first day of pre-sales, Fandango announced the film was the second-best seller of advance tickets in 2018, after Avengers: Infinity War. At the week of its release, projections had the film making $135–170 million over the four-day frame, with Disney predicting a $130–150 million debut.

The film opened in 4,381 theaters, the ninth-highest total ever, including 3,300 3D locations and 400 IMAX screens. It grossed $14.1 million from Thursday night previews, the lowest of the Disney Star Wars films but the best-ever for Memorial Day weekend, besting the $13.2 million made by Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End in 2007. Including Thursday previews, the film made $35.6 million on its first day, lowering weekend projections to $115 million. It grossed just $83.3 million in its opening weekend (and an estimated $101 million over the four–day weekend), far below projections and marking the lowest Star Wars debut since Attack of the Clones in 2002. Deadline Hollywood compared the below-expectations opening to Justice League the previous November, and attributed it to fan negativity toward the concept and the behind-the-scenes problems, as well as competition from Deadpool 2 and Avengers: Infinity War and the feeling of Star Wars over-saturation.

Other territories
Worldwide the film was expected to make $285–340 million in its opening weekend, including $150–170 million internationally. It opened in 43 markets on the Wednesday and Thursday prior to its US release and made a total of $11.4 million, including $3.3 million in China. It went on to open to just $65 million overseas and $148.3 million worldwide. It grossed $10.3 million in the United Kingdom, and also finished first in Australia ($5 million), Germany ($4.3 million), France ($3.9 million), Russia ($3.6 million), Spain ($2.6 million), Mexico ($2.5 million), Italy ($2.2 million) and Brazil ($1.3 million). However, despite being the second-largest foreign opening, it made just $10.1 million in China, far below the other three Disney Star Wars films.

Critical response
On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, Solo has an approval rating of 71% based on 292 reviews, with an average rating of 6.4/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "A flawed yet fun and fast-paced space adventure, Solo: A Star Wars Story should satisfy newcomers to the saga as well as longtime fans who check their expectations at the theater door." On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, the film has a weighted average score of 63 out of 100, based on reviews from 53 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported filmgoers gave it an 89% overall positive score and a 73% "definite recommend".

Writing for Rolling Stone, Peter Travers gave the film 2.5 stars out of 4, complimenting the cast but criticizing the lack of creativity, saying, "somehow Han Solo – the roguish Star Wars hellion famous for breaking all the rules – finds himself in a feel-good movie that doesn't break any." Bernard Boo of PopMatters wrote, "If what you want from a Star Wars movie is an action-adventure romp, and the last two movies in the franchise (The Last Jedi and Rogue One) felt a little too dreary and heavy on pathos, Solo is sure to lift your spirits and give you more thrills than you can handle. Some of the action sequences are seriously breathtaking and will keep you teetering on the edge of your seat."

A. O. Scott of The New York Times said, "It doesn't take itself too seriously, but it also holds whatever irreverent, anarchic impulses it might possess in careful check." Michael Rechtshaffen of The Hollywood Reporter praised the cast and production value but felt the film as a whole felt too safe, writing, "while Ehrenreich's Solo proves adept at maneuvering the Millennium Falcon out of some tight spots, the picture itself follows a safely predictable course. Missing here are the sort of plot-related or visual curveballs thrown by Rian Johnson's The Last Jedi or Gareth Edwards with Rogue One."

For the New York Post, Johnny Oleksinski gave the film one star out of a possible four, writing that while Glover was "amusing" in his role, Ehrenreich was "given an impossible task: to make us forget about Harrison Ford, easily the most iconic action hero in modern cinema." Kevin Scott from Exclaim! echoed the sentiment that Ehrenreich did not have the same "ineffable everyman" quality that Ford had, giving the film 4/10 and saying, "The villain is a generically icy figure with vague plans and hollow threats, the twists and turns are fairly predictable and the entire story is one that — unlike superior fellow Star Wars stand-alone Rogue One — has few meaningful connections to other Star Wars stories beyond the hollow reverence for what has come before."

Possible sequels
Alden Ehrenreich confirmed his contract deal to appear as Han Solo, extended for two additional films, giving the studio the option to pursue a sequel to Solo: A Star Wars Story, or featuring him in other anthology films in a supporting capacity. Ehrenreich said he would like any sequels to differentiate themselves from the previous Star Wars trilogies by being standalone, in the vein of Indiana Jones or the James Bond films, rather than direct follow-ups.

Solo director Ron Howard said that while no sequel was in development, it was up to the fans to decide. Critics noted the film intentionally left room open for sequels. Solo writer Jon Kasdan said that he would include bounty hunter Bossk (who briefly appeared in Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and was mentioned by Val in Solo) if he were to write a sequel for the film.

Kathleen Kennedy also said that a film focusing on Lando Calrissian could happen, but it would not be a priority at the time. Donald Glover said he would imagine it as being Catch Me If You Can in space.