Join me, son, and together we will rule the galaxy.
This isnt exactly the offer Lawrence Kasdan made to his son Jon, but close enough.
He did not require the hard sell that Darth Vader gave Luke Skywalker.
Jonathan Olley/Lucasfilm Ltd.
Then he was brought aboardEpisode VII, and that became all-consuming.
When I was done, I was sort of burned out.
And I said, I dont know, do we still want to do this Han thing?
Disney/RKO/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock
And they said, Yeah!
We really want you to go ahead with Han.
And he had directed two movies and had done other things.
What if he came on and worked with me?
Because, that would give me a shot in the arm.
And so, thats exactly what happened.
Warner Bros/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock
They made a deal with Jon, and he and I have been writing since for three years.
Yes, we had em all, and we played with em a lot, he says.
We were fanatical about it.
Merrick Morton/Universal
And we had no interest in presents from our parents, Jon adds.
It was just, What was gonna come from Lucasfilm?
And it wasalwaysa score.
Mo/Pagoda/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock
Then the years progressed into, like, 89.
[The gifts] started to be things like umbrellas and sweatshirts.
It was a real dark moment in the Kasdan house when we realized the toys were no longer coming.
But the Kasdans actually went back even further, to the 1882 novel, for inspiration.
HEAT
Michael Manns 1995 heist saga also provided underworld inspiration.
We wanted this movie to have that flavor and that swagger.
No one is reliable, Lawrence Kasdan says.
Theres always a chance of betrayal.
UNFORGIVEN
Clint Eastwoods 1992 revisionist Western was another gunslinger/apprentice story that struck a nerve.
How did he become that Bogart character who has to pronounce that hes only in it for himself?
We know thats not true.
But where did that come in?
He wasnt born that way.
GANGSTER NO.
1
In this 2000 British drama from director Paul McGuigan, Paul Bettany plays an ultra smooth criminal.
His performance inspired hisSolocharacter of Dryden Vos, a slick, handsome version of crime lord Jabba the Hutt.
So the part ended up going to Bettany, who worked with Howard onThe Da Vinci CodeandA Beautiful Mind.
The actor who inspired the character ultimately ended up playing the part.
1is a wild movie and Paul is great in it, says Jon.
Within the criminal underworld, theres no hierarchy.
There are some that are in power, and theres some that are scrambling to stay alive.
Solo: A Star Wars Storyopens May 25.
