"Lando Calrissian!"
Donald Glover has landed the highly coveted role of Lando Calrissian in the yet-to-be titled Han Solo stand-alone spin-off film, which is expected in theaters summer 2018. Lucasfilm announced the casting themselves in a statement released earlier this afternoon.
Glover now joins Alden Ehrenreich (Hail, Caesar!), who has signed on for the title role, in a film that will depict the formative years of the two scoundrels-turned-heroes, and will of course take place long before the events of The Empire Strikes Back & Return of the Jedi, where he reunited with Solo and joined Luke Skywalker & Leia Organa in the fight against Darth Vader and the Empire.
In their statement, directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller gave their seal of approval and expressed their excitement at getting a chance to work with him: "We’re so lucky to have an artist as talented as Donald join us... These are big shoes to fill, and an even bigger cape, and this one fits him perfectly, which will save us money on alterations. Also, we’d like to publicly apologize to Donald for ruining Comic-Con for him forever."
Glover currently stars on the hit FX comedy/drama Atlanta, a series he also wrote and created, but is probably best known to fans for his role as Troy "Butt Soup" Barnes on the NBC comedy Community. Last year, he also had a key role in the Academy Award-nominated & Golden Globe-winner The Martian and rounded out his 2015 with starring roles in Magic Mike XXL & The Lazarus Effect. Glover can be seen next in Marvel Studios' highly anticipated Spider-Man: Homecoming. In addition to acting, Glover is also a Grammy-nominated arist, performing under the stage name Childish Gambino.
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Han Solo shoots first May 25, 2018