The Verge - Solo: all the latest news for the next standalone Star Wars movie https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/52801/VER_Logomark_32x32..png2018-09-06T10:12:02-04:00http://www.theverge.com/rss/stream/156081252018-09-06T10:12:02-04:002018-09-06T10:12:02-04:00The novelization of Solo: A Star Wars Story adds new depth to the film
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<figcaption>Photo by Andrew Liptak / The Verge</figcaption>
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<p id="nEmSlB"><em>Solo: A Star Wars Story</em> hit theaters earlier this summer, <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/15/17355964/solo-a-star-wars-story-review-ron-howard">pulling off a satisfactory story</a>, despite a rocky production, and giving a definitive origin to one of the franchise’s best-known heroes, Han Solo. If you’ve seen the film, you know the story: Han Solo escapes a rough childhood as a street rat, gets kicked out of the Imperial Academy, falls into a life of crime with a couple of gangsters, and ends up running into Chewbacca and Lando Calrissian. A newly released novelization of the movie by Mur Lafferty layers on some additional scenes and character development and subtly changes the tone of the story from a straight-up action / heist film to one that explores the nature of servitude in the galaxy far, far away. </p>
<p id="agwtyE">Movie...</p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/9/6/17824230/solo-star-wars-story-novelization-mur-lafferty-book-review">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2018/9/6/17824230/solo-star-wars-story-novelization-mur-lafferty-book-reviewAndrew Liptak2018-06-01T09:35:57-04:002018-06-01T09:35:57-04:00Where should Star Wars go after Solo’s box office disappointment?
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<figcaption>Photo by Jonathan Olley / Lucasfilm Ltd.</figcaption>
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<p id="kpUjkP">Over the Memorial Day weekend, Lucasfilm’s latest feature, <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/15/17355964/solo-a-star-wars-story-review-ron-howard"><em>Solo: A Star Wars Story</em></a>, debuted to <a href="http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=4402&p=.htm">disappointing box office returns</a>. It was the weekend’s top-grossing movie, but the $103 million domestic take was well below Disney’s expectations, set by the openings for recent series installments <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2016/12/13/13926062/star-wars-rogue-one-review"><em>Rogue One</em></a> ($155 million) and <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2017/12/12/16766570/the-last-jedi-review-rian-johnson-star-wars-daisy-ridley-adam-driver"><em>The Last Jedi</em></a> ($220 million). </p>
<p id="JSjSK4">The armchair-quarterbacking started immediately, with trade publications musing over whether Disney overpacked the film-release calendar by piling <em>Star Wars</em> movies atop Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, and whether turning <em>Star Wars </em>into a twice-yearly cinematic outing meant the series was no longer appointment viewing. Above all, pundits are wondering whether Disney and Lucasfilm will pull...</p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/6/1/17414032/solo-a-star-wars-story-question-club-box-office-disappointment">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2018/6/1/17414032/solo-a-star-wars-story-question-club-box-office-disappointmentTasha RobinsonBryan Bishop2018-05-31T10:50:31-04:002018-05-31T10:50:31-04:00Solo demonstrates that the Star Wars expanded universe hasn’t been forgotten
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<figcaption>Image: Bantam Spectra</figcaption>
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<p id="pX8OVk"><em>Solo: A Star Wars Story</em> debuted on May 24th, delivering an origin story for one of the franchise’s best-known heroes. The film has underperformed at the box office, setting off a wave of questions about the future of the film franchise. But fans might be interested in a different future entirely — the future of the now non-canon expanded universe, which lives on in a new form in <em>Solo</em>.</p>
<p id="0MrY8f"><em><strong>Some spoilers for Solo: A Star Wars Story ahead.</strong></em></p>
<p id="wIOi3z">When Disney acquired Lucasfilm in 2012, the company made a controversial decision: it <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2014/8/22/6051871/star-wars-expanded-universe-timeline">officially ended the long-running expanded universe</a>, a complicated series of novels, comics, and video games that kept interest in the franchise running long after the first film trilogy ended in 1983. While those books and...</p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/31/17408544/solo-star-wars-story-expanded-universe-ac-crispin-novels">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/31/17408544/solo-star-wars-story-expanded-universe-ac-crispin-novelsAndrew Liptak2018-05-29T16:06:37-04:002018-05-29T16:06:37-04:00Solo takes Star Wars’ fixation on self-sacrifice in a cavalier new direction
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<figcaption>Jonathan Olley /Lucasfilm Ltd.</figcaption>
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<p id="7ylZuP"><em><strong>Warning: Spoilers for </strong></em><strong>Solo: A Star Wars Story</strong><em><strong>, </strong></em><strong>Rogue One</strong><em><strong>, and </strong></em><strong>The Force Awakens </strong><em><strong>ahead.</strong></em></p>
<p id="l2EoiS">Halfway through 2016’s <em>Rogue One: A Star Wars Story</em>, I started getting a sinking feeling. I was enjoying the movie, but its intentions were just starting to sink in. <em>Rogue One</em> doesn’t fully hide its seams. It’s a stitched-together production, but it’s easy to get swept up in the narrative. And then it becomes clear that not all of the heroes — maybe none of the heroes — are going to make it out alive. And though I was fine with that, I began wondering how I was going to explain it to my five-year-old, who was sitting next to me.</p>
<p id="uABJc0">We’d taken her to see <em>The Force Awakens</em> the year before, but I’d taken precautions. I attended a preview screening and...</p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/29/17405672/solo-star-wars-story-suicide-sacrifice-death">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/29/17405672/solo-star-wars-story-suicide-sacrifice-deathKeith Phipps2018-05-24T12:05:13-04:002018-05-24T12:05:13-04:00Chewbacca actor Joonas Suotamo explains the Wookiee mask, movement, and mentality
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<figcaption>Photo by Tristan Fewings / Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p id="YHa25I">When 31-year-old Finnish actor Joonas Suotamo first stepped into the role of <em>Star Wars</em>’ towering, hairy Wookiee character Chewbacca for 2015’s <em>The Force Awakens</em>, he repeatedly dodged press questions about which scenes he appeared in. Peter Mayhew, who originated the role in 1977’s <em>A New Hope</em>, was also playing Chewbacca in some scenes, but he was having mobility issues and using a cane. Suotamo was eager to tell the story of how he ended up on <em>Star Wars</em> as his first film acting gig. He was a “borderline jobless” basketball player who was living with his mother until he answered a worldwide casting call for a 7-foot actor with blue eyes. But out of respect for Mayhew, he wanted to keep quiet on when exactly he stepped into the role. </p>
<p id="hYcihn">As of...</p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/24/17387164/chewbacca-actor-joonas-suotamo-interview-wookiee-mask-behind-the-scenes-solo-star-wars-story">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/24/17387164/chewbacca-actor-joonas-suotamo-interview-wookiee-mask-behind-the-scenes-solo-star-wars-storyTasha Robinson2018-05-16T15:03:50-04:002018-05-16T15:03:50-04:00This video sums up why Ron Howard gets director credit for Solo: A Star Wars Story
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<p id="F7XFTZ">Last June, Lucasfilm made a stunning announcement: directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller had been fired from the production of <em>Solo: A Star Wars Story</em>, several months into filming, and were replaced by director Ron Howard. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OECDa_LDhzo">This video</a> from Andrew Saladino’s YouTube film essay series The Royal Ocean Film Society helps outline why it’s Howard, rather than Lord and Miller, who gets credit as director for the film. </p>
<p id="3FpdXv">Lucasfilm brought Lord and Miller <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2015/7/7/8909061/star-wars-han-solo-lego-movie-phil-lord-christopher-miller">onboard in 2015</a> to direct the film, and the pair were present throughout the pre-production and well into filming before they were fired and summarily replaced. Since then, it’s <a href="http://variety.com/2018/film/news/star-wars-han-solo-phil-lord-chris-miller-credit-1202734151/">emerged that Lord and Miller</a> will be listed as Executive Producers on <em>Solo</em>, rather than getting any sort of...</p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/16/17361582/solo-a-star-wars-story-ron-howard-director-credit">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/16/17361582/solo-a-star-wars-story-ron-howard-director-creditAndrew Liptak2018-05-15T17:00:02-04:002018-05-15T17:00:02-04:00Solo: A Star Wars Story — our spoiler-free review
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<figcaption>Photo by Jonathan Olley / Lucasfilm Ltd.</figcaption>
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<p id="4xOfiB">For a film franchise that’s more than 40 years old, <em>Star Wars</em> has had a surprisingly hard time finding its voice lately. <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2015/12/16/10243884/star-wars-the-force-awakens-review">J.J. Abrams’ <em>The Force Awakens</em></a> successfully relaunched the series after a 10-year cinematic hiatus, but some fans felt it copied George Lucas’ original 1977 film too closely. The standalone <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2016/12/13/13926062/star-wars-rogue-one-review"><em>Rogue One: A Star Wars Story</em></a> attempted to use the fantasy world to tell a gritty wartime tale, but Disney was ultimately unhappy with the result, and <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2017/1/15/14268850/star-wars-rogue-one-reshoots-disney-gareth-edwards-tony-gilroy">writer-director Tony Gilroy was brought in</a> to help Gareth Edwards’ film over the finish line. Last year, writer-director Rian Johnson pushed the series in intriguing new directions with <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2017/12/12/16766570/the-last-jedi-review-rian-johnson-star-wars-daisy-ridley-adam-driver"><em>Star Wars: The Last Jedi</em></a>, but that <em>also</em> led to fan complaints — this time, that the installment had...</p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/15/17355964/solo-a-star-wars-story-review-ron-howard">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/15/17355964/solo-a-star-wars-story-review-ron-howardBryan Bishop2018-05-06T11:09:31-04:002018-05-06T11:09:31-04:00Donald Glover’s Lando Calrissian asked a pointed question about race in Star Wars on last night’s Saturday Night Live
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<p id="FdwjlC">Donald Glover was the host of last night’s <em>Saturday Night Live,</em> and appeared in one sketch as his character in the upcoming <em>Solo: A Star Wars Story</em>: Lando Calrissian. There, he asked a question that’s been raised a lot about the <em>Star Wars</em> universe: where the hell are all the black humans in space?</p>
<p id="NH3g21">In the sketch, Glover’s charming Lando hosts the “first-ever summit for all black humans,” on Naboo, which turns out to include just three attendees. It’s a pointed jab at the lack of diversity in the <em>Star Wars</em> films. </p>
<p id="S1zbJo">The lack of diversity in the franchise is something that’s long been pointed out when it comes to the franchise:<em> </em>In her 1980 essay “The Lost Races of Science Fiction,” (reprinted in Gerry Canavan’s critical biography <em>Octavia E....</em></p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/6/17324250/donald-glover-lando-calrissian-star-wars-saturday-night-live">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/6/17324250/donald-glover-lando-calrissian-star-wars-saturday-night-liveAndrew Liptak