'Star Wars' Director Ron Howard On The Possibility Of A 'Solo' Sequel

Filmmaker Ron Howard directed "Solo: A Star Wars Story," the prequel story to Han Solo, Lando Calrissian, and other fan-favorite characters.

Unfortunately, the movie had a troubled production and failed to perform at the box office. As such, fans have never been too optimistic that the 2018 film would get a sequel.

One pandemic and a few canceled Star Wars projects later, it's starting to look like the odds of a sequel are just as likely as Han topping his old Kessel Run record.

In a recent interview with NME, Ron Howard didn't seem too optimistic about the idea of a sequel.

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

However, he tried to assure fans "never say never" when it comes to shelved Star Wars projects.

"The folks from Lucasfilm love the fans and really do listen, so I would never say never, he added. "But I'm not aware of any concrete plans right now to extend the story or deal with that particular set of characters."

At this point, it's unclear if any of the actors would return to reprise their roles.

In 2018, "Atlanta" star Donald Glover, who played a young Lando Calrissian, talked about reprising the character at a "Solo: A Star Wars Story" Town Hall.

"It would always be fun to be Lando again," he said at the time. "The movie, I feel like, is wide open. This part of the universe without the… I feel like with the Skywalkers, it's hard because it's almost like the Bible."

"There's a story that you have to tell, and the lineage of that family," he continued. "I feel like out here it's like, yeah, we're just like hustlers and gamblers and space pirates, essentially, so you can do a lot more and have a lot more fun."

Fortunately, some of the characters have lived on through comic books, including Q'ira's adventures with the Crimson Dawn.

Although Ron Howard might be wrapping up his time in a galaxy far, far away, several new directors are just coming into the Lucasfilm family. Director Shawn Levy, who previously directed Ryan Reynolds in “Free Guy,” “The Adam Project,” and “Deadpool 3,” is currently in the process of developing his own Star Wars story.

In a December 2022 interview with Collider, via Screen Rant, Shawn Levy revealed that he has been talking to Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy “for a while now” and will get ready to work on his new movie… as soon as he wraps up his commitment to the Marvel anti-hero.

“Yes. I’m very aware of the ratio of filmmakers who get to the starting line. As you know, Steve, I’m a student of the business, and so of course I note that,” Levy said. “But here’s my attitude: I have this golden ticket into a galaxy far away, and I’m going to devote myself to developing a screenplay that gives me the privilege of making this movie.”

“I don’t attach to things because it looks good in a trade announcement. I attach to things that I intend to make. And you better believe I’m not going to squander this juiciest of opportunities,” he continued. “I’m going to work my a– off. But first, I got to work my a– off on making Deadpool. So it’s definitely longer-term planning, but I want to be one of the movies that gets to the starting line because these are rare opportunities, and I want to make the most of it.”

“I’ve been talking with Kathy Kennedy for a while now, and she’s been aware of my passion for this franchise for a long time. The stars finally aligned, and she came to me and was like, let’s do something here,” he added. “And that’s as much as I can say. But this is definitely development and not yet close to prep. So there’s a lot of work to be done.”

Fortunately, season 2 of the animated cartoon "The Bad Batch" has just been released. The highly-anticipated season 3 of "The Mandalorian" also drops in March, with several more Star Wars shows dropping soon after. So, although it may take a while for Star Wars fans to see a movie in theaters again, at least there is still plenty of new content coming up in a galaxy far, far away.