Phil Lord and Chris Miller to Direct Young Han Solo STAR WARS Spin-Off

Update: Lord and Miller aren't writing the film, only directing. Original article follows.

I would love to see Disney expand the universe of possibilities with the Star Wars franchise and truly branch out into some new territory, but if they absolutely must return to characters and iconography that fans know and love (which I understand is a sound business practice), I can't imagine a better scenario than this one. I just received a press release confirming that Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the directing duo responsible for the Jump Street films and The LEGO Movie, will direct a Star Wars spin-off about a young Han Solo.

"This is the first film we've worked on that seems like a good idea to begin with. We promise to take risks, to give the audience a fresh experience, and we pledge ourselves to be faithful stewards of these characters who mean so much to us. This is a dream come true for us. And not the kind of dream where you're late for work and all your clothes are made of pudding, but the kind of dream where you get to make a film with some of the greatest characters ever, in a film franchise you've loved since before you can remember having dreams at all” said Miller and Lord.

The screenplay is written by Lawrence Kasdan and Jon Kasdan. The story focuses on how young Han Solo became the smuggler, thief, and scoundrel whom Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi first encountered in the cantina at Mos Eisley.

You'll recognize Lawrence Kasdan as the man who wrote The Empire Strikes Back and The Force Awakens (among many other things), and Jon Kasdan is his son, who wrote and directed an excellent film called The First Time that debuted at Sundance a few years ago (read my review of that movie right here). This film is set for a May 25th, 2018 release, and apparently it's not the same project that Josh Trank was working on before he left (or was kicked out, depending on who you believe).

Lord and Miller are insanely busy with their Flash movie for Warner Bros. and their animated Spider-Man film for Sony along with their continued involvement in the LEGO franchise that they began, so it remains to be seen what will happen with those projects since Star Wars is obviously going to immediately become a major priority for them. This is awesome news!