Disney has announced Christopher Miller and Phil Lord will be directing the next Star Wars anthology film, which will center around Han Solo. The duo have directed hit films such as The LEGO Movie, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, 21 and 22 Jump Street, and recently had their Fox comedy series The Last Man on Earth renewed for a second season.
From the press release:
“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.
Lawrence Kasdan, the writer and director known for Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Big Chill and Grand Canyon, is familiar to Star Wars fans for having co-written the screenplays for The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, and The Force Awakens. His son Jon Kasdan wrote and directed The First Time, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, and In the Land of Women, as well as writing for the television series Freaks and Geeks and Dawson’s Creek.
