Posted by | Ray Cornelius
Lucasfilms announced on Friday that hip hop star and actor Donald Glover has been tapped to play a younger version of “Lando Calrissian” in an upcoming standalone “Hans Solo” Star Wars film. Glover would join previously announced Alden Ehrenreich, who will Captain Solo. The project will be directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller and is due out in theaters in 2018.
Calrissian is the slick-tongued, playboy from the iconic “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi” films that was played so famously by Billy Dee Williams. He was also the “frienemy” of Hans Solo. According to the StarWars website, the film will depict Lando in his formative years as a scoundrel on the rise in the galaxy’s underworld – years before he got involved with Solo, Princess Leia and Darth Vader.
“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 currently starring in the new FX hit series “Atlanta.”
Factoid: Did you know that both Billy Dee Williams and “A Different World” star Glynn Turman had both auditioned for the role of Hans Solo in the 1977 Star Wars film. According to Turman’s Wikipedia page, he had audition for the part and was at the top of George Lucas‘ list. However, Lucas thought the film would get some backlash with a Black Hans Solo kissing on a white Princess Leia played by Carrie Fisher. Click here to read about it.
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