Hoping for a Solo: A Star Wars Story sequel on Disney Plus? It sounds unlikely
A new movie 'would be a tough sell'
There are no plans for a sequel to 2018's Solo: A Star Wars Story, the film's co-writer Jonathan Kasdan has reiterated. It's not terribly surprising that Disney isn't rushing to make a sequel to the lowest-grossing Star Wars movie of all time, but if you were hoping for a follow-up of any kind, this appears to rule it out. Kasdan fielded a question from a fan on Twitter about the possibility:
"Don't think anyone's pursuing a Solo sequel at the moment I think a feature, at this point, would be a tough sell and the D+ Star Wars slate is really...pretty packed, all shows I'm lookin forward to [sic]."
Kasdan appears to rule out any kind of return on the streaming service Disney Plus, then. This purely seemed like an outside possibility because another Star Wars spin-off movie, Rogue One, is getting a prequel series featuring the character Cassian Andor (played by Diego Luna). That film, though, more than doubled Solo's box office takings, which explains why there's an appetite to return to Andor's story.
It's also possible, though, that Kasdan is just referring to the fact that Lucasfilm is too busy with TV projects for the time being, like The Mandalorian season 2, to work on a Solo follow-up of any kind.
Kasdan was also asked about his work on the long-gestating Indiana Jones 5 movie. "My work on Indy is long over but I'm excited there's forward movement!" Logan director James Mangold is rumored to direct the next Indiana Jones movie too.
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Was Solo really that bad?
No! Solo feels like a forgotten Star Wars film, and the timing of its release, coming less than half a year after The Last Jedi, helped to doom it. Releasing it just two weeks after Avengers: Infinity War can't have helped, either. Solo made a seemingly okay $392.2 million at the box office, but this is offset by the film's monstrously high budget, which reportedly rang in at over $250 million without marketing costs.
It's well worth a rewatch: its interpretation of the Kessel Run, famously referred to in A New Hope, is one of the weirdest and most thrilling space sequences of any Star Wars movie. No, Solo didn't need to exist in the sense that Han Solo's origin was arguably best left to our imaginations, but it does give the future smuggler a proper character arc.
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If you're in the mood to watch Solo again, check out Kasdan's detailed notes below for unprecedented behind-the-scenes insight on the making of the film.
In honor of the digital release of #SoloAStarWarsStory & in lieu of a commentary, here are 53 random factoids & notes about the making & writing for anybody who's interested. If you haven't seen the movie yet... maybe watch it before reading? Anyway, enjoy the movie & #MTFBWY pic.twitter.com/wHy1seDuoLSeptember 14, 2018
Thanks, IGN.
Samuel is a PR Manager at game developer Frontier. Formerly TechRadar's Senior Entertainment Editor, he's an expert in Marvel, Star Wars, Netflix shows and general streaming stuff. Before his stint at TechRadar, he spent six years at PC Gamer. Samuel is also the co-host of the popular Back Page podcast, in which he details the trials and tribulations of being a games magazine editor – and attempts to justify his impulsive eBay games buying binges.