Lucasfilm announced early this morning that Solo: A Star Wars Story will premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in Official Selection and Out of Competition during the festival’s run from May 8 – 19, 2018.
Director Ron Howard will be attending the Cannes Film Festival with a number of the cast including Alden Ehrenreich who plays Han Solo, Woody Harrelson who plays Tobias Beckett, Emilia Clarke who plays Qi’Ri, Donald Glover who plays Lando Calrissian, Thandie Newton as Val although it’s possible she might be Sana Starros who was a fellow smuggler, Phoebe Waller who plays L3-37, Joonas Suotamo who plays Chewbacca, and Paul Bettany who plays Dryden Vos.
Along with the Cannes Film Festival announcement, we got a detailed synopsis of the film:
Solo: A Star Wars Story” makes the jump to light speed in a high-octane adventure that navigates the perils of a dark and dangerous criminal underworld, forges new friendships that will last a lifetime, and reveals untold secrets from the hidden past of one of the Star Wars saga’s most unlikely heroes. Han Solo meets loyal co-pilot Chewbacca and notorious gambler Lando Calrissian for the first time, bound by a desperate mission against impossible odds that will help shape the irresistible scoundrel audiences have come to love.
Solo: A Star Wars Story will be the first Star Wars film following the very divisive Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Not only is it following the divisive film, but it the movie has its own drama with a director shake-up that saw Phil Lord and Christopher Miller exit the project over “creative differences.” Ron Howard was brought in to complete the movie. Recent long range tracking seems to indicate the film is good ground though with estimates saying the film will earn $150 million in its opening weekend and go on to earn $390 million total from the domestic box office. That puts it ahead of Deadpool 2 estimates.
The Cannes Film Festival could definitely change those estimates if the film gets quite a bit of praise. It does seem that Lucasfilm has faith in the movie given they are going to let it run at the film festival for nearly a month before it opens to the general audience.
Are you excited for Solo: A Star Wars Story?
Solo: A Star Wars Story is expected to open to general audiences on May 25, 2018.