Lucasfilm just figured out the slickest way to make sure every single Star Wars fan will want a sequel to Solo: A Star Wars Story. According to Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, the next movie is all about Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian. But, when will this movie take place?
On Wednesday, speaking at the Cannes Film Festival, Kennedy reportedly said “Lando will be next,” when asked about additional sequels to Solo. This detail was published in the French magazine Première, and has since been reported by numerous outlets online. There has been no official announcement from StarWars.com or Lucasfilm. Still, this revelation seems very likely. The only question now will be whether or not the Lando movie will be a sequel to Solo, or a prequel of sorts. Without spoiling anything specific in Solo itself, a Lando movie does present a bit of problem in terms of what exactly he’ll be doing. Will the Lando movie pick up where Solo ends, or go back and show us what Lando was doing before the movie? A little bit of both?
In all honesty, a Lando movie that took place in two time periods would probably be the most satisfying. Plus, once fans see the movie, they’ll know there probably needs to be a few more interactions with Han and Lando before the events of The Empire Strikes Back begin to back complete sense. Still, there’s a lot to Lando’s backstory in that Solo establishes that would be really great to see, perhaps in partial flashback. Who knows, maybe the Lando movie could have a feeling similar to The Godfather Part II, with half of it devoted to the past, and the other half focused on the relative “present.”
Solo opens on May 25, and every single fan will instantly fall in love with Donald Glover as Lando. Having a sequel to Solo really be a movie about Lando is a brilliant move on the part of Lucasfilm, and it will ensure that fun and sexy Star Wars movies will continue to be made alongside the more serious epic ones.
Update: According to io9, Lucasfilm says the quote from Kennedy wasn’t translated correctly. This doesn’t mean the Lando film isn’t happening, but it doubles down on the idea that that it hasn’t been confirmed.
