The standalone Star Wars movie that's set to focus on a young Han Solo will also tell the tale of how he became friends with his furry sidekick, Chewbacca.
Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed the new details while on a call with Deutsche Bank for their media day, according to The Wrap. During the call, Iger said that the still untitled movie would be coming out in 2018 and would tell the origin stories of both Han Solo and Chewbacca.
Iger didn't provide any other details about the movie, but The Wrap reported that he mentioned the standalone movies would be marketed much differently, but just as aggressively, as the canonical series.
Despite the spinoff film still being a few years away from release, there are a couple of things that we know about it already. Chris Miller and Phil Lord, the directors behind 21 Jump Street and The Lego Movie, will be stepping behind the camera. The two have a background in comedy and the decision to bring them on board points to the Han Solo movie being one of the more lighthearted ones in the franchise. Could this be a buddy-cop movie between Chewbacca and Han Solo? Quite possibly.
We also know the shortlist of possible actors Disney is looking into to play Han Solo. Ansel Elgort, Dave Franco, Miles Teller and Scott Eastwood are some of the bigger names rumored to be auditioning for the role. The list also includes newcomers like Jack Reynor and Logan Lerman.
The young Han Solo movie will be the second standalone Star Wars anthology movie, following the release of Gareth Edwards' Rogue One, due out this December. Star Wars: Episode VIII, being directed by Rian Johnson, will also be released prior to Miller and Lord's feature. That's set to hit theaters Dec. 15, 2017.