Revealed: George Lucas Was Developing Han Solo Film Prior To Merger

Wow. Is there actual hope that Solo: A Star Wars Story could be a great Disney Star Wars film? Entertainment Weekly has posted an article that reveals that George Lucas was already developing a Han Solo standalone film before the Disney merger. Of course, it’s impossible to know how much of his story has influenced the final film, but click through and see if you have also found a new hope for this film. There are also other great tidbits of info in this article as well. Special thanks to Funtomaz for bringing this detail to our attention.

There’s a new article up on EW, an interview with Laurence Kasdan who reveals that George Lucas was actually developing a Han Solo movie and tasked Kasdan with writing a script before Disney acquired Lucasfilm.
Now, how much of that script survived is not said. But it’s interesting to know that George was about ready to get back into Star Wars before he changed his mind and sold the company.

The article goes on and mentions all the influences for the script:

Treasure Island, Heat, Unforgiven, The Big Lebowski and Gangster No 1.

Tobias Beckett is supposed to be a type of John Silver character in Solo. And the overall theme of the novel is similar to what Han will experience, that he meets various dubious characters who inform his maturation as an adult.
Kasdan wanted the Solo movie to have the same flavor and swagger as Heat, where an older, wiser criminal tutors a young man.
Unforgiven was yet another blueprint for a master/apprentice relationship.
And Han can be thought of like the Dude from The Big Lebowski who stumbles through a film noir he doesn’t really grasp, with Chewie the Walter Sobchak character.
And finally, Gangster No 1 is an inspiration for one of the underworld characters in the movie. And Paul Bettany, who played the main character in that movie, finally ended up playing the character in Solo that his original performance in Gangster No 1 inspired when the original actor was no longer available.

One statement by Kasdan stands out:

“The Big Lebowski is a great example because Solo has a more off-kilter tone than you’ve ever seen in Star Wars.”

Should we be worried about that? Do fans need more off-kilter after The Last Jedi?

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