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, produced by Lucasfilm and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the second Star Wars anthology film following Rogue One (2016). Alden Ehrenreich stars as Han Solo alongside Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Donald Glover, Thandie Newton, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Joonas Suotamo, and Paul Bettany. The plot takes place approximately ten years prior to the events of A New Hope, and explores the early adventures of Han Solo and Chewbacca, who join a heist within the criminal underworld.

Star Wars creator George Lucas began developing a Han Solo prequel in 2012, and commissioned Lawrence Kasdan to write the screenplay. After Lucas sold Lucasfilm to Disney in 2012, Kasdan was hired to write Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), leaving his son Jonathan to complete the Solo script. Principal photography began in January 2017 at Pinewood Studios, directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. The duo were fired in June 2017 following "creative differences" with Lucasfilm, and Howard was hired as their replacement. With an estimated production budget of at least $275 million, Solo is one of the most expensive films ever made.

Solo had its world premiere in Los Angeles on May 10, 2018, and was screened at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival on May 15, 2018. It was released in the United States on May 25, 2018, in RealD 3D, IMAX and IMAX 3D. Solo received generally favorable reviews from critics who praised the film's acting performances (particularly Ehrenreich and Glover), visuals and action sequences, while some felt its storyline was predictable. The film is the first in the Star Wars franchise to be considered a box-office bomb, grossing only $392.9 million worldwide.

Plot
On the planet Corellia, orphaned children are made to steal in order to survive. Lovers Han and Qi'ra make an escape from the clutches of a local gang. They bribe an Imperial officer with stolen coaxium, a powerful hyperspace fuel, 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. When the recruiting officer asks for his surname, Han says he is alone with no family, so the recruiter gives him the last name "Solo".

Three years later, Han is expelled from the Imperial Flight Academy for insubordination and is serving as an infantryman on Mimban. He encounters a group of criminals posing as Imperial soldiers led by Tobias Beckett. Han attempts 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. Able to understand Chewbacca's language, Han persuades him to cooperate to escape. Beckett, aware of the usefulness of a Wookiee's strength, rescues and enlists them in the gang to steal a shipment of coaxium on Vandor-1. The plan goes awry when the Cloud Riders show up, led by Enfys Nest, resulting in the deaths of two crew members, Rio Durant and Beckett's wife Val, 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 to repay the debt. They travel to Vos' yacht where Han finds Qi'ra, who has joined Crimson Dawn and is Vos' top lieutenant. Han suggests a risky plan to steal unrefined coaxium from the mines on Kessel; Vos approves but insists that Qi'ra accompany the team. She leads them 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 agrees to join the mission in exchange for a share of the profits.

After reaching Kessel in the Millennium Falcon and infiltrating the mine, Lando's droid co-pilot L3-37 instigates a slave revolt. In the confusion, they steal the coaxium, but L3 is severely damaged and Lando is injured during the escape. With the help of L3's navigational computer, hotwired into the ship's systems, Han pilots the ship through the dangerous and uncharted Kessel Run to elude an Imperial blockade. The Falcon, badly damaged, lands on the planet Savareen to process the coaxium.

During a confrontation with Enfys, who tracked the team from Vandor, Lando flees in the Falcon. Enfys explains to Han that she and her crew are not pirates, but rebels trying to prevent the syndicates and Empire from gaining power. Han becomes sympathetic to their cause and tries to trick Vos, but Beckett has already alerted him to the double-cross. Vos sends his guards to kill Enfys, but the Cloud Riders overpower them instead, leaving Vos defenseless. Having anticipated Vos' strategy, Han tries to take the coaxium, only for Beckett to betray Vos, escaping with it and taking Chewbacca hostage. Qi'ra kills Vos and sends Han after Beckett; once alone, she contacts Vos' superior, Maul, to inform him of the mission's failure and claim Vos' position. She avoids speaking of Han's involvement, instead blaming everything on Beckett.

Han catches up to Beckett and confronts him, shooting Beckett before he can return fire. With his dying words Beckett tells Han he made a smart choice. Qi'ra leaves in Vos' yacht, while Han and Chewbacca turn the coaxium over to Enfys, who then offers Han a chance to join the rebellion against the Empire; when he declines, she gives him a vial of coaxium, enough to buy a ship of his own. Han and Chewbacca locate Lando and challenge him to a rematch in sabacc, once again wagering the Falcon. Han wins, having stolen the card Lando was keeping up his sleeve in order to cheat, and he and Chewbacca leave for Tatooine, where a "big-shot gangster" is putting together a job.

Cast

 * Alden Ehrenreich as Han Solo:
 * Woody Harrelson as Tobias Beckett:
 * Emilia Clarke as Qi'ra:
 * Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian:
 * Thandie Newton as Val: Beckett's wife, 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.

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, the serpent-like leader of the gang to which teenage Han and Qi'ra belong. Ian Kenny portrays Rebolt while Clint Howard portrays Ralakili. Additionally, Anthony Daniels cameos as Tak, enslaved alongside Chewbacca, Kiran Shah plays Karjj and Warwick Davis briefly reprises his role from the film The Phantom Menace as Weazel, a Cloud Rider. Ray Park reprises his role as Maul, with Sam Witwer providing the character's voice, reprising the role from The Clone Wars and Rebels animated TV series.

Screenwriter Jonathan Kasdan and first assistant director Toby Hefferman portrayed Tag Greenley and Bink Otauna, respectively—two characters that first appeared in the Star Wars Legends comics published by Dark Horse Comics. The scene was not included in the finished film.

Development
In 2012, Star Wars creator George Lucas began developing a film about a young Han Solo, and hired veteran Star Wars screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan to write the screenplay. After Lucas sold his company to Disney in 2012, Kasdan was hired to help finish the script for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, leaving his son Jonathan Kasdan in charge of writing Solo until his return.

In February 2013, Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed the development of two Star Wars standalone films, one written by Kasdan. Shortly thereafter, it was reported that Disney was working on a film featuring Solo. Disney CFO Jay Rasulo described the standalone films as origin stories. In July, 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 was to be directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller from a script by Lawrence and Jonathan Kasdan. Kennedy would serve as a producer, with Lawrence Kasdan and Jason McGatlin as executive producers; Allison Shearmur and Simon Emanuel also produce. Solo's Wookiee friend Chewbacca was also announced to appear in the film. In May 2016, Lawrence Kasdan stated that filming would start in January 2017.

Casting
In January 2016, a list 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 for the 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 that 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, where he shared it 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, to the Fassa Dolomites in Trentino, Italy, and to the Canary Islands. Lucasfilm replaced editor Chris Dickens with Pietro Scalia.

On June 20, 2017, citing "creative differences", Lucasfilm announced that the directors had left the project 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 only to add "a comedic touch". Lucasfilm also felt 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 shot several takes exactly as written, then shot additional takes. Lord and Miller refused to compromise on certain scenes, such as filming a scene from fewer angles than Lucasfilm expected, thereby reducing the options available in editing. 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 was made after a short hiatus in filming taken to review the footage so far.

It was reported that Ron Howard, who had previously collaborated with Lucas as an actor in American Graffiti (1973) and the director of Willow (1988), was a frontrunner to step in as director. Joe Johnston and Kasdan were also 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 for the remaining three-and-a-half weeks of scheduled principal photography as well as the scheduled five weeks of reshoots. Howard wrote, "I'm beyond grateful to add my voice to the Star Wars universe... I hope to honor the great work already done and 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 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; the production did not want to wait for his availability to make a release in May 2018.

Lucas, Howard's friend, mentor and collaborator, made a surprise visit to the set to encourage Howard on his first day shooting. Intended as a short meeting, Lucas spent the whole day with the crew. While Lucas had not meant to interfere, at some point he forgot and asked "Why doesn't Han just do this?"; Howard included his suggestion. On October 17, 2017, Howard announced that principal photography had been completed, and revealed the title of the film. During production, Howard utilized rear-projection visual effects for the Millennium Falcon cockpit scenes, an updated version of what was used in the original trilogy.

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

Music
In July 2017, John Powell was announced as the main composer of the score. Longtime Star Wars composer John Williams composed and conducted the Han Solo theme, "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 music by Williams from previous Star Wars 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.

Release
Solo: A Star Wars Story had its world premiere on May 10, 2018 at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles, and also screened on May 15, 2018 at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival. The film debuted in selected countries on May 23 and had its US release on May 25, 2018, the 41st anniversary of the release of the original Star Wars film (later renamed A New Hope to distinguish the film from the series), 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".

Home media
Solo: A Star Wars Story was released in digital formats on September 14, 2018. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released the film on Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray and DVD on September 25, 2018. It was released in Australia by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D and DVD on October 3, 2018.

Adaptations
A novelization by Mur Lafferty, Solo: A Star Wars Story: Expanded Edition (ISBN 978-0525619390) was published on September 4, 2018 by Del Rey Books. It includes scenes from alternate versions of the film's script. Also, a five-issue comic book adaptation of the film will be published by Marvel Comics starting in October 2018.

Box office
Solo: A Star Wars Story has grossed $213.8 million in the United States and Canada, and $179.1 million in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $392.9 million. With an estimated production budget of $300 million, the film needed to gross at least $500 million worldwide to have a chance at breaking even.

A week after its worldwide debut of just $147.5 million, Variety wrote that the film would lose Disney "tens of millions of dollars" off a projected final total gross of $400–450 million while The Hollywood Reporter estimated the losses would range from $50 to $80 million. In June 2018, in response to the film's poor commercial performance, director Ron Howard tweeted he was proud of the film, and sorry that fans were not turning out to see it, but was happy for those who had enjoyed it.

Dani Di Placido from Forbes, described Solo as "a bad idea, with a surprisingly good execution", and argued that it would have performed better had it been released after an Obi-Wan spin-off led by Ewan McGregor, due to the latter's already established portrayal not being an origin story and because it would have been helped by the "new found" prequel trilogy's popularity, which after being revived, would have been associated with Solo.

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 $84.4 million in its opening weekend (and $103 million over the four–day weekend), far below projections and marking the lowest Star Wars debut since Attack of the Clones in 2002, although it did set a new career-high opening for Howard. 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. Many analysts and publications, including Deadline, The Atlantic, Entertainment Weekly and CNN, interpreted the low box office returns as a case of "Star Wars fatigue", since Solo was the fourth film of the series released in 29 months, and came just five months after The Last Jedi. Other analysts attributed the film's underperformance to lackluster marketing, as well as the divided fan reception to The Last Jedi. Solo dropped 65% in its second weekend to $29.4 million, the worst sophomore frame for any Star Wars film since the original trilogy. It dropped another 46% in its third weekend to $15.7 million, finishing second behind newcomer Ocean's 8, and $10 million in its fourth week, finishing fourth.

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 $147.5 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. The film held a better-than-expected 47% in its second weekend, making $30.3 million from 54 countries and remaining the top film in several, including Australia, Spain and the United Kingdom.

Critical response
On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, Solo has an approval rating of 70% based on 389 reviews, with an average rating of 6.4/10. The website'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 62 out of 100, based on reviews from 54 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." He noted that it is "a curiously low-stakes blockbuster, in effect a filmed Wikipedia page". Michael Rechtshaffen of The Hollywood Reporter praised the cast and production values 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." Matthew Rozsa of Salon.com wrote that "Whenever Star Wars tries to develop one of the franchise's key characters, it whiffs. Solo is no exception."

Future
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 feature 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 the Indiana Jones films, rather than direct follow-ups. Emilia Clarke, who played Qi'ra, also signed on for future installments.

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 appears in Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and is mentioned in Solo) if he were to write a sequel for the film. Kennedy also said that a film focusing on Lando Calrissian could happen, but was not a priority. Donald Glover also expressed interest in a spin-off film, saying he would imagine it as Catch Me If You Can in space.

On June 20, 2018, Collider claimed that all future anthology films were on hold due to the financial performance of Solo. A day later, Lucasfilm told ABC News that this was not correct and that numerous unannounced stand-alone films were still in development, but that they would be taking time to reassess several aspects of them, including production, budget and marketing. Making Star Wars reported that a previously unknown Mos Eisley Spaceport film was the source of the rumors and was postponed or canceled, while all other previously reported yet unannounced stand-alone films were still in development.