Directed by Ron Howard, produced by Lucasfilm, and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the second Star Wars anthology film, following Rogue One (2016).

Alden Ehrenreich stars as Solo, with Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Donald Glover, Thandiwe Newton, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Joonas Suotamo, and Paul Bettany.

The film tells the origin story of Han Solo and Chewbacca, who join a heist within the criminal underworld ten years prior to the events of A New Hope.

After Lucas sold Lucasfilm to The Walt Disney Company in 2012, Kasdan was hired to write The Force Awakens (2015), leaving his son Jonathan to complete the Solo script.

Beckett reveals that he was ordered to steal the shipment for Dryden Vos, a high-ranking crime boss in the Crimson Dawn syndicate.

[46] Kiran Shah plays Karjj and Warwick Davis briefly reprises his role from The Phantom Menace as Weazel, a Cloud Rider.

However, Kasdan wasn't sure if he wanted to make more movies even though the story about Han Solo was the one that inspired him the most, so Lucas commissioned him to write the screenplay.

[61] In February 2013, Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed the development of two Star Wars standalone films, one written by Lawrence Kasdan.

[64] In July, Lucasfilm announced that an anthology film focusing "on how [a] young Han Solo became the smuggler, thief, and scoundrel whom Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi first encountered in the cantina at Mos Eisley"[65] would be released on May 25, 2018.

[69] In January 2016, a list of actors in consideration for the role of young Han Solo was revealed, including Emory Cohen, Scott Eastwood, Ansel Elgort, Dave Franco, Blake Jenner, Logan Lerman, Jack Reynor, and Miles Teller.

[71] In May 2016, Ehrenreich was reported to have been cast as the young Han Solo,[21] and was confirmed for the role at Star Wars Celebration Europe III two months later.

"[72] Other actors to audition for the role included Charlie Cox, Tom Felton, Colton Haynes, Anthony Ingruber, Rami Malek, Jack O'Connell, Glen Powell, Chandler Riggs, Nick Robinson, Joshua Sasse, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Ed Westwick.

[82][83][84] In early January 2017, Woody Harrelson was revealed to be in negotiations to portray Han Solo's mentor,[85] and was confirmed to be appearing in the film shortly after.

[26] In February 2017, Phoebe Waller-Bridge joined the cast in an undisclosed role, said to be "a CGI-driven performance" similar to Alan Tudyk in Rogue One as the droid K-2SO.

[6] Michael K. Williams entered talks to join the film in early March 2017,[90] and was confirmed shortly after,[37] portraying a half-human, half-animal creature.

[2][99] It was reported that the directors were fired after Kennedy and Lawrence Kasdan disagreed with their shooting style;[3][100] Lord and Miller believed they were hired to make a comedy film, while Lucasfilm was looking for the duo only to add "a comedic touch."

[7] During the reshoots, actor Michael K. Williams was unable to return to the production, due to a schedule conflict with filming The Red Sea Diving Resort, resulting in his part being redeveloped and recast with Paul Bettany.

[121] In September 2020, Powell announced on social media that a deluxe edition of the soundtrack album would be remixed and mastered by 5 Cat Studios, featuring all unedited cues from the score and additional demos that Williams had composed for the film.

Graeme McMillan of The Hollywood Reporter criticized the trailer as "dull", and compared it negatively to the look of Rogue One, opining that the visuals "should be the hive of scum and villainy of the Cantina of the very first movie, filled with colorful aliens and things happening all over the place.

[130] In early March 2018, French artist Hachim Bahous asserted that Disney had plagiarized a series of album covers he designed for Sony Music's label Legacy Recordings in France with character posters for the film.

Deadline Hollywood noted that it was tracking higher than the previous Star Wars spin-off film, Rogue One (which debuted to $155 million), and had more interest from audiences than the likes of fellow blockbusters Spider-Man: Homecoming and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.

[144][145] Deadline Hollywood compared the below-expectations opening to Justice League the previous November, and attributed it to fan negativity toward the concept and the behind-the-scenes problems, as well as competition from Deadpool 2 and Avengers: Infinity War.

The site's critical consensus reads, "A flawed yet fun and fast-paced space adventure, Solo: A Star Wars Story should satisfy newcomers to the saga as well as longtime fans who check their expectations at the theater door.

"[160] Ron Howard said that original Han Solo actor Harrison Ford saw the film twice and spoke positively about it and Ehrenreich's performance.

[168] Billy Dee Williams was more critical of the film, particularly due to the direction of Calrissian: "I think that the reason they didn't have the success they could have had, [is] because they were going for something that was topical, instead of an adventure that's far beyond those questions.

"[170] A novelization by Mur Lafferty, Solo: A Star Wars Story: Expanded Edition (ISBN 978-0525619390) was published on September 4, 2018, by Del Rey Books.

[183] Ehrenreich said he would like any sequels to differentiate themselves from the previous Star Wars trilogies by being standalone, in the vein of the Indiana Jones films, rather than direct follow-ups.

To express his gratitude, Jon Kasdan tweeted an image of three crime syndicate logos, hinting that future stories could still be in the works.

[199] Rita Dorsch of Comic Book Resources said that, by far, the most interesting part of Solo is Qi'ra's turn and that any follow-up film needs to focus on her.

[205] In September 2023, Stephen Glover revealed that their latest plans for Lando, before work was halted by the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike, was for it to be a feature film rather than a television series.