no plans for ‘Solo’ sequel but “never say never”

Acclaimed filmmaker Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind, Apollo 13) has responded to fan requests for a follow-up to his Star Wars film Solo: A Star Wars Story.

Released in 2018, the film told the origin story of Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich) and was largely considered a less successful entry in the sci-fi franchise. It grossed $393million from a budget of $275-300million and received mixed reviews from critics. However, the post-credits scene teased the return of a major villain in the saga and seemed to set up a sequel that has since stalled. No announcement of another movie has been made by production company Lucasfilm, though fans have continued to talk about it online.

Speaking to NME during his exclusive Absolute Scenes interview, which you can watch in full above, Solo director Howard provided a discouraging update on the proposed sequel.

“The only discussion that I’m aware of about a sequel for Solo is coming from the fans at this point,” he said. “I don’t think it’s a Lucasfilm priority, as I understand it.”

He added: “But there’s some great characters launched, and the folks from Lucasfilm love the fans and really do listen so I would never say never – but I’m not aware of any concrete plans right now to extend the story or deal with that particular set of characters.”

‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’, starring Alden Ehrenreich. CREDIT: Lucasfilm/ Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Elsewhere in the interview, Howard discussed his long-term collaboration with actor Tom Hanks. The pair have worked on five films together, including 1995’s Apollo 13 which won two Oscars.

“Tom Hanks was inspiring to me on that movie,” said Howard. “What I was really impressed by was his absolute attention to detail and knowledge of the moon missions. His passion for it and his belief that we didn’t need to embellish [the story]. We just needed to show it, just bring it to life – and I actually learned a lot from [his] commitment.

“That collaboration was a blast and then we worked together years later on The Da Vinci Code and other Dan Brown projects. I hope our days of collaboration are far from over because he’s just a great talent and a great collaborator.”

Thirteen Lives, Howard’s most recent film, tells the true story of the 2018 mission to rescue twelve boys and their soccer coach from Thailand’s flooded Tham Luang Nang Non cave system. It is available to stream now on Amazon Prime Video.

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