Solo: A Star Wars Storyscreenwriters Lawrence and Jon Kasdan recently talked about some of their influences while writing the movie, and the Coen Brothers' cult classicThe Big Lebowskicame up along with Michael Mann’sHeat. In addition, the father and son screenwriting duo reveal thatSolowill be the most “off-kilter"Star Warsmovie released thus far, which has typically divided the fan base that was already divided about the movie in the first place. Humor was always going to be a factor in a movie about a young Han Solo and hints ofThe Big Lebowskiare pretty intriguing, at least light years more intriguing thanAce Ventura.
In a new interview, Lawrence and Jon Kasdan talked about theinfluencesthat they had in mind forSolowhen they were writing it and they came from some unlikely sources. In addition toThe Big Lebowski, the duo also mentioned Michael Mann’sHeat, Treasure Island, and Clint Eastwood’s career defining WesternThe Unforgiven. They had this to say.
“Solohas thatflavor of a crime worldthat has weirdness and surprise and people stumbling into things - and other people very intentionally getting into (trouble).The Big Lebowskiis a great example becauseSolohas a more off-kilter tone than you’ve ever seen inStar Wars.”
When Phil Lord and Chris Miller were let go from theSolomovie over the summer, whispers ofAce Venturaand a young Han Solo were torn to shreds by fans. Will ayoung Han Solo movieinfluenced byThe Big LebowskiandTreasure Islandsit better?
It seems thatThe Unforgivenand Treasure Island were thought of when Lawrence and Jon Kasdan were thinking of the relationship between Alden Ehrenreich’s Han Solo and Woody Harrelson’s Tobias Beckett. However, the overall movie was influenced by the Coen Brothers’The Big Lebowski, which seems to be a bit odd, but there are far worse comedies to draw influence from. Will young Han Solo have some of the inherent cool of the Dude? Whatever the case may be, Lucasfilm is aiming to make something different withSolo: A Star Wars Storyand it certainly seems like they succeeded.
The trailer forSololooks to have adarker feel, much like the tone ofRogue One, but it appears that the nearly 2 minutes of footage is quite different from what we’ll see when the movie hits theaters at the end of May.Star Warsfans were already skeptical, but the idea of an “off-kilter” movie doesn’t really seem like something that fans really want. On the other hand, the Kasdans and director Ron Howard are extremely confident in the final product, so we’ll all have to wait and see when the movie comes out. Maybe the “off-kilter” angle will be just what Lucasfilm needs to breathe some new life into theStar Warsuniverse.
Solo: A Star Wars Storyhits theaters on May 25th, 2018 and if you weren’t intrigued to see it before, you’ll either be really excited about these new developments or you’ll sway the other direction completely.The Big Lebowskiis a cult favorite and hearing that it’s an influence on an off-kilterStar Warsmovie sounds very interesting on paper, so it will be exciting to see how Lawrence and Jon Kasdan and Ron Howard pulled it off. You can read the original interview with the Kasdans over atEntertainment Weekly.
