Billy Dee Williams Comments on Donald Glover's LANDO Project - "There's Only One Lando Calrissian"
Last year we learned that Donald Glover was developing a Lando movie for Lucasfilm with his brother Stephen Glover co-writing the script with him. Glover took over the role of Lando Calrissian in Solo: A Star Wars Story, and Lucasfilm has been looking to get this spinoff project off the ground for years, and I’m sure that one day it’ll happen.
During a recent interview with Radio Times, original Lando actor Billy Dee Williams reflected on the character and commented on Glover taking over the role. While Glover was great in the role, I love Williams’s thoughts on the future of the character:
"He's part of a whole new generation. He'll create whatever he needs to create, to bring appeal to the character. He's a very talented young lad and very imaginative. I mean, it's not for me to say what he should do with the character at this stage. I took care of the 20th century, now he's got to take care of the 21st. I had a nice little lunch with him. He's a delightful young man. Extremely talented. But I don't see him... I mean, when it comes to Lando Calrissian there's only one Lando Calrissian. I created that character."
Williams also shared the advice that he offered Glover on how play the role, saying: "I told him to be charming -- two words! That's all I needed to tell him. That's all I could think of." I think Glover pulled it off! But yes, at the same time, there really is only one Lando Calrissian.
Williams reprised the role of Lando in 2019 for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and when asked if he would ever return to the franchise, Williams joked, "Pay me a lot of money and I'll sell my soul."
Glover previously said he wanted to tell a story that he knew he would be happy with, and he doesn’t want to waste his time on a project that he’s not fully invested in, but said Lando is definitely a character he’d like to play again: “People kind of realized that their time was valuable. You only get so much. So I am not interested in doing anything that’s just going to be a waste of my time or just a paycheck. I’d much rather spend time with people that I enjoy. So it just has to be the right thing, which I think it could be. Lando is definitely somebody I’d like to hang out with.”
Glover previously shared his vision for a Lando project, describing it as Frasier in space: “It would be cool to see, like, Frasier in Space. Like, a high-end guy in space. All of these characters are very specific and they have very specific points of view, so it’s always going to be fun to see them traveling around to a planet that is the opposite of what they’re used to … And all of that seems like it would be fun to write, for sure.”
Star Wars: Lando doesn't currently have a release date.