Director Ron Howard says there are no plans for a Solo: A Star Wars Story sequel. Released in 2018, the prequel movie was the second anthology endeavor from the franchise after the success of Gareth Edwards' Rogue One. While both films went through tumultuous productions, Solo's was more open to the public with a last minute director switch between original directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller and Howard.
Solo introduces fans to Alden Ehrenreich as the younger iteration of Han Solo – a character synonymous to Harrison Ford who played him in the original trilogy as well as Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. The film assembled an impressive cast with Donald Glover as young Lando Calrissian, Emilia Clarke as Qi'ra, Paul Bettany as Dryden Vos, and Woody Harrelson as Tobias Beckett, among others. Unfortunately for those wondering if they can see some of this crew again for a sequel, Howard has bad news for you.
Speaking with Radio Andy (via ComicBook), the Oscar-winning director was asked if there are any plans for a Solo sequel – something a pocket of Star Wars fans who enjoyed the film are hoping for. Howard didn't mince his words when answering, saying that nothing has been plotted for a potential follow-up:
Well, there's no sequel planned now and it's amazing to be a part of a Star Wars movie that seems to be a kind of underground hit, which is not what you'd expect, but that's been an odd, strange journey for that movie.
The film became the first financially disappointing Star Wars movie, but that can be chalked up to things other than its quality. For starters, it didn't have that much separation from the last films in the franchise – Rian Johnson's Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which rolled out around five months prior. Solo was also released during a packed summer blockbuster season, as it came on the heels of Avengers: Infinity War and Deadpool 2. Though Solo wasn't groundbreaking, it was a decent movie, with great performances – including Ehrenreich, who made Han Solo his own despite the immense pressure to follow Ford's iteration. Overall, given its production snafu, it turned out to be okay. So, it's understandable that some might want to see more of these characters moving forward.
For what it's worth, rumor has it that Disney and Lucasfilm are looking to bring back Glover for a Lando series on Disney+. There have been rumblings as well about spin-offs based on characters from Solo: A Star Wars Story. It's worth noting that none of these have been officially confirmed, so it's best to take them with a healthy grain of salt. Even if a sequel isn't in the cards for the film, at least there's a chance some characters' stories will continue in other avenues.
Source: Radio Andy (via ComicBook)