Behind the scenes of Solo: A Star Wars Story, thanks to the writer – CNET

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How did Bram Stoker, River Phoenix and HP Lovecraft influence Solo: A Star Wars Story, and how was Thandie Newton too good for the movie? Writer Jon Kasdan reveals all in a list of facts and notes about the movie.

On Friday, Kasdan shared Star Wars facts on Twitter “in lieu of a commentary” as the digital release of Solo arrives for your home entertainment. Spoilers abound as Kasdan — who shares the final writing credit on the movie with his father, Lawrence Kasdan — dives into the story and the decisions made behind the scenes…

Kasdan refers to “C&P”, the film’s original writing and directing duo Christopher Miller and Phil Lord. “RH” refers to director Ron Howard, who took over the reins after the producers very publicly parted company with Miller and Lord. Kasdan tactfully steers clear of the difficulties we have to assume happened, but nonetheless provides a fascinating look at how a film gets made. 

In addition to giving a glimpse into some of the details in the film itself — such as the inclusion of a surprise cameo for Darth Maul and the background for Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s charming L3 droid — the list offers insight into the filmmaking process. We learn that even on a big-money Star Wars blockbuster there’s horse trading over budgets. And we get a glimpse of the collaborative give-and-take among writers, directors, editors and others that goes into creating a movie.  

Solo: A Star Wars Story is available digitally now and comes out on Blu-ray and DVD on 25 September. Although there’s no commentary on the movie, it does feature a discussion with Howard and the stars, a documentary about the writing process, plus various featurettes and deleted scenes.

As a bonus, here’s a glimpse of one of those deleted scenes showing Han Solo as an Imperial Cadet, along with costume designer Glynn Dillon and various other members of the crew: