Haunted Mansion director Justin Simien clarifies the status of the Lando Calrissian-led Star Wars spinoff series for Disney+.
What is happening with Lando?
Initially announced by Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy during the studio’s presentation at Disney Investor Day in 2020, little has been known about the series outside of Simien being named the showrunner. Like other announced Star Wars projects such as Rogue Squadron, development on Lando has largely been silent except for Kennedy’s recent comments at Star Wars Celebration 2023 that the series was “still happening.” But in a new interview with The Direct to promote his latest film, Simien reveals there has been little movement since the initial announcement.
“I certainly poured my heart and spent a lot of time working with them to put together a really great show,” Simien said. “It feels like everybody loves it. And, you know, I was told we had to put a pause on it because of scheduling, and the next update I got [was in 2020], some years ago. So I don’t know, I have no idea what’s going on with it.”
Lando would have followed the early adventures of the Cloud City administrator originally played by Billy Dee Williams in 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back, 1983’s Return of the Jedi, and 2019’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. The younger version of Lando was played by Donald Glover in 2018’s Solo: A Star Wars Story and was in talks to headline the Disney+ series at the time of the original announcement. Glover expressed interest in reprising the role during a GQ Magazine interview earlier this year, and Kennedy echoed the actor’s enthusiasm by saying he was “very excited about it.”
As Lucasfilm prepares for the August 23 release of Ahsoka and The Acolyte on Disney+ in 2024, the Lando series does not have a release date as of this writing.
