Solo: A Star Wars Story To Premiere At Cannes Film Festival
Solo: A Star Wars Story is set to bow at the Cannes Film Festival before it soars into cinemas.
The Cannes Film Festival roster has historically generated buzz aplenty, and this year is no different. Representatives of the festival confirmed on Friday that the opening-night film will be Everybody Knows, directed by Asghar Farhadi and starring Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz, but mystery still surrounded the rest of the line-up. That is, until Cannes Film Festival confirmed to Deadline that Solo: A Star Wars Story will screen in the Grand Amphitheatre Lumière at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes ten days before its May 25 theatrical release in the United States.
"In 2018, what is one of the greatest legends in the history of cinema returns to the red carpet at the next Festival de Cannes. Presented Out of Competition, the latest film of the Star Wars galaxy by Ron Howard brings together Han Solo, his faithful Chewbacca, the crooked Lando Calrissian, the Millenium Falcon, and, of course, the droids," the festival's official announcement reads in part. "The saga's second spin-off will be unveiled on the screen of the Grand Théâtre Lumière. This episode takes us back to the youth of the famous smuggler, ace pilot, and charming scoundrel Han Solo ... The screening in the Grand Amphitheatre Lumière at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes promises to be an event for all fans of the saga and everyone in attendance."
Solo: A Star Wars Story making its debut at the Cannes Film Festival follows something of a trend for the film series. In 2002, the Natalie Portman and Hayden Christensen-led prequel Star Wars: Attack of the Clones premiered at the France-set festival. Three years later, it was Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith that inspired excitement in Cannes-goers. Revenge of the Sith was the last main Star Wars saga installment to screen at Cannes, and since Solo: A Star Wars Story is a standalone, it won't be the entry to change that fact. If things go swimmingly, perhaps Disney, Lucasfilm, and the festival's organizers can collaborate again in the future, possibly to debut Episode IX at Cannes.
Directed by Ron Howard (Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind) from a script by Jon Kasdan (Freaks and Geeks) and Lawrence Kasdan (The Empire Strikes Back), Solo: A Star Wars Story features Alden Ehrenreich as Han Solo, Woody Harrelson as Beckett, Emilia Clarke as Qi'ra, Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian, Thandie Newton as Val, Phoebe Waller-Bridge as L3-37, Joonas Suotamo as Chewbacca, Paul Bettany as crime lord Dryden Vos, and Harley Durst as Moloch.
Here's a quick plot summary of the film: "Board the Millennium Falcon and journey to a galaxy far, far away in Solo: A Star Wars Story, an all-new adventure with the most beloved scoundrel in the galaxy. Through a series of daring escapades deep within a dark and dangerous criminal underworld, Han Solo meets his mighty future copilot Chewbacca and encounters the notorious gambler Lando Calrissian in a journey that will set the course of one of the Star Wars saga's most unlikely heroes."
For those not heading off to France for the Cannes Film Festival, catch Solo: A Star Wars Story in U.S. theaters on May 25.