Star Wars: Everything We Know About the Han Solo Spinoff Movie

After a massive search, Disney selected Alden Ehrenreich for the lead role. Ehrenreich, who starred in the Coen brothers' Hail, Caesar! last year, beat out the likes of Taron Egerton and Ansel Elgort. Interestingly enough, the 28-year-old was the first to audition for the part and already has the support of Star Wars: The Force Awakens star John Boyega. "You're going to be fine," the actor told Ehrenreich at the Star Wars Celebration panel. "You've got that charm stuff down."

Last October, news broke that Atlanta star Donald Glover would be playing Lando Calrissian, the role originally played by Billy Dee Williams. "We're so lucky to have an artist as talented as Donald join us," said then-directors Chris Lord and Phil Miller in a statement. "These are big shoes to fill, and an even bigger cape, and this one fits him perfectly, which will save us money on alterations. Also, we'd like to publicly apologize to Donald for ruining Comic-Con for him forever."

The Mother of Dragons is heading to a galaxy far, far away! Disney announced in November 2016 that Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke joined the cast as a woman named Qi'ra, who crosses paths with Han. In January, it was announced that Woody Harrelson would appear in the film as well. So far all we know is that he's named Beckett, he recruits Han for a job, and ends up being some kind of father figure to the young smuggler. Then-directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller described his addition to the cast as such: "His ability to find both humor and pathos, often in the same role, is truly unique. He is also very good at ping pong." There you have it.

The Lego Movie directing duo Chris Miller and Phil Lord were originally supposed to tackle the origin story of the galaxy's favorite cocky smuggler, but the pair was unceremoniously ousted from the project in June 2017. Lucasfilm chief Kathleen Kennedy fired the directors over "creative differences," (sources told The Hollywood Reporter that "the style and vision of Lord and Miller clashed with that of Lawrence Kasdan," the movie's screenwriter), and Ron Howard was brought on instead. The veteran director was thrilled with the opportunity, and began sharing tons of incredible sneak peeks from the film's set.

The screenplay for Solo: A Star Wars Story was always in very safe hands. Father and son screenwriters Lawrence and Jon Kasdan were in charge of bringing a young Han to life, and since the elder Kasdan not only cowrote Star Wars: The Force Awakens but also The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Return of the Jedi, the chances of this movie being mind-blowingly amazing are strong.

Although we were really rooting for Solo Cup, the powers that be officially dubbed the film Solo: A Star Wars Story, which Howard announced via Twitter.

The official Star Wars site released a brief synopsis that reads, "The story focuses on how young Han Solo became the smuggler, thief, and scoundrel whom Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi first encountered in the cantina at Mos Eisley." If you're worried that the movie will revolve around Han as a kid or his very basic origin story, Lawrence Kasdan's chat with The Empire Podcast will hopefully put your fears at ease.

Shortly after principle photography on the film began in early 2017, Disney shared a fun image of the cast and former directors Chris Miller and Phil Lord. Chewie is lookin' good!

Throughout production, Howard posted tons of behind-the-scenes photos on his Instagram account, including this shot of Glover in costume as Lando.

Sadly we've still got a bit of a ways to go until the movie hits theaters on May 25, 2018.