‘Star Wars’ Probably Won’t Have New Actors Play Old Characters Again

Solo: A Star Wars Story is by far the lowest grossing Star Wars movie. The anthology film, starring Alden Ehrenreich as Han Solo, Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian, and Chewbacca as Chewbacca, made only (“only”) $392 million at the box office, compared to $1.056 billion for Rogue One; it earned less than 1983’s Return of the Jedi, even before adjusting for inflation. Solo also received indifferent-at-best reviews with a 69 percent “Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes, although the film does have its supporters.

There’s a fun Star Wars movie in there, but a troubled production (and maybe the worst scene in the entire franchise) did Solo no favors.

The underwhelming response to Solo changed the course of Star Wars, both in the short term, with more “Star Wars Story” installments on hiatus, and the long term. In a lengthy profile, Lucasfilm chief Kathleen Kennedy told Vanity Fair that future Star Wars projects probably won’t have new actors play old characters, like Ehrenreich as everyone’s favorite space scoundrel (even if his performance is one of the best things about Solo):

The 2018 movie Solo explored Han Solo’s younger years, with Alden Ehrenreich taking on the role of the smuggler originated by Harrison Ford. The film has its admirers, but it made less at the box office than any other live-action Star Wars movie. Solo’s swagger may be too singular for another actor to replicate. “There should be moments along the way when you learn things,” says Kennedy. “Now it does seem so abundantly clear that we can’t do that.”

The implication here: get ready for lots of new characters, which is great, and LOTS of CGI and deep fake technology, which is… less great. See, this is why every Star Wars movie and TV show should be about the adventures of Watto and his little hat.

There’s no pesky humans to deal with.

(Via Vanity Fair)