Introduced in the second The Empire Strikes Back — and played by Billy Dee Williams — Lando Calrissian is pretty much the coolest cat in the galaxy. A
Playboy, gambler, and scoundrel, Lando even owned the , until he lost it in a bet to Han Solo. When we first meet Lando, the blaggard betrays his old friend, handing Han over to . But in Return of the Jedi, Lando redeems himself, leading the attack on the with trademark swagger. The character more recently appeared in prequel movie Solo, with Donald Glover donning Lando’s killer threads to play a younger version of the character. And now
Disney and Lucasfilm are planning a solo adventure for Han’s bestie — here’s everything we know about the proposed project. Lando: Is it happening? Which is a major shift in plans for the character. As of December 2020, Lucasfilm announced plans for a Lando limited series, with Justin Simien (Dear White People, Haunted Mansion) serving as both head writer, and showrunner. Two years later however – at Anaheim Celebration – Lucasfilm chief Kathleen Kennedy said there was no movement due to Donald Glover’s busy schedule, : “You need to ask Donald. He’s the one that holds all the cards here. But there’s no movement. I will say that honestly. But it’s not for lack of trying. It’s just that he’s a very busy guy.” When asked by The
Hollywood Reporter about his involvement in July 2023, : “I am attached, I think, but I don’t really know. The last thing I was told was that they loved it but needed to put a pin in it until they could figure out everybody’s availability. I haven’t investigated further, but I’m not an idiot.” Related: Mere hours later, , with Donald Glover and brother Stephen Glover assuming writing and showrunning duties. Then in September 2023, Variety announced that . Does Lando have a release date? In terms of movies, Jon Favreau is currently working on , Sharmeen Obaid-Chino is developing her , Patty Jenkins has to come, while the likes of Dave Filoni, James Manfold, Taika Waititi, Rian Johnson, and Shawn Levy all have
Star Wars movies planned. Where Lando fits into that schedule remains to be seen, and will largely depend on when Donald and Stephen Glover finish their script, and what Kathleen Kennedy and co think of the result. Lando cast: Who’s in it? In February 2024, Glover for wanting to make the Lando movie to The Hollywood Reporter, saying: “I said yes because I like the characters and my kids love Star Wars.” He also talked about the movie being very much vision, by adding: “I feel like I have enough control, and maybe you get painted as a control freak, but it’s like, yeah, control allows for the vision to be singular.” As for whether Billy Dee Williams would be keen to reprise his role should the Lando movie require an older version of the character, the Radio Times asked, and : “Pay me a lot of money and I’ll sell my soul.” One
Actor who could potentially return is Alden Ehrenreich. He played Han to Glover’s Lando, and while their movie didn’t make much of a splash, his performance was well-received, and the pair were praised for their chemistry, so don’t be surprised to see a Solo and Calrissian reteam. Lando plot: What’s it about? But how much charm is something the Glover brothers are currently wrestling with. “Lando is charm incarnate,” Glover told GQ last April (in the below video). “He’s kind of a maverick, which I don’t think there’s a lot of anymore. It’s hard to be the smooth talker nowadays. Where’s the line? That’s also where the danger is. How close can you get without tripping over it?” But that issue notwithstanding, Donald is determined to get this iteration right, adding: “It’s a fun time, being him. It just has to be the right way to do it. Time is precious. The past couple of years, this pandemic sh*t, it really had people experience time… People realize their time is valuable. You only get so much. I’m not interested in doing anything that’s going to be a waste of my time or just a paycheck. I’d much rather spend time with people that I enjoy. It just has to be the right thing, and I think it could be. Lando is definitely somebody I like to hang out with.” We’ll update this article when there’s more Lando news to report. Find more amazing this month, and keep up to date with the Star Wars essentials below: | | | |