Ron Howard: No Concrete Plans for

According to Ron Howard, director of the upcoming movie Solo: A Star Wars Story, there are not currently any definite plans for it to have sequels, despite reports from a few weeks ago that its star, Alden Ehrenreich, confirmed having a three-movie deal to play Han Solo.

In an interview with Fandango, he admitted that Lucasfilm chose to cast young actors in part so that they could build on the story in the future, but that whether or not that happens depends on the movie’s success.

“Certainly, they want the commitment from the young actors, but there are no concrete plans,” he explained.

The possibility of more movies was surprising to many fans, because Solo is part of the new Star Wars Anthology line, which have been promoted as one-off adventures separate from the film’s central “trilogies.” The movie, which will be released on May 25, is the second Anthology, after 2016’s Rogue One.

Howard explains that he thinks that his movie, as well as the Anthologies in general, are good at standing on their own feet as independent stories. However, from a business model, it makes sense than Lucasfilm (which is owned by Disney) would wait to see the audience response and consider expanding the story further.

It is worth noting that Felicity Jones, who starred in Rogue One as Jyn Erso, also had a sequel option in her contract, though one that is unlikely to come up again, seeing as what happens in that film.

Of course, there is a difference, here: Jyn was a new character, while Ehrenreich’s Han Solo is not. Solo is a prequel to the original trilogy, so obviously the movie has to end with Han Solo alive and able to join the Rebel Alliance in the future. Which means that, theoretically, Lucasfilm could make several more stories about what happens to him before he meets Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi at the Mos Eisley Cantina.

Of course, there could be other spin-offs with Ehrenreich as Han. After all, these movies are supposed to share one continuity; who’s to say that Han couldn’t show up in an Anthology film about someone like Boba Fett in the future?

For now fans will have to wait and see how well Solo is, let alone whether or not it gets any follow-ups.