Donald Glover and Brother Stephen to Write Star Wars ‘Lando’ Series for Disney+, Justin Simien Exits as Showrunner

Brit Tuttle

Donald Glover and Brother Stephen to Write Star Wars ‘Lando’ Series for Disney+, Justin Simien Exits as Showrunner

Brit Tuttle

Donald Glover and Brother Stephen to Write Star Wars ‘Lando’ Series for Disney+, Justin Simien Exits as Showrunner

Donald Glover and his brother Stephen Glover have both signed on to write Lucasfilm’s long-awaited “Lando” series for Disney+, according to Variety.

Donald and Stephen Glover to Write ‘Lando’ Series for Disney+

Kathleen Kennedy Announcing "Lando" Series for Disney+ Starring Donald Glover

The series was first announced as in development as part of the 2020 Disney Investor Day. At the time, President of Lucasfilm Kathleen Kennedy shared that the series was being developed by the director of Disney’s new “Haunted Mansion” film, Justin Simien.

Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian in "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker"

The role of Lando Calrissian was originated by Billy Dee Williams in “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back” and “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.” Donald stepped into the role in 2018, with Ron Howard’s “Solo: A Star Wars Story.” The prequel film was a box office failure, a first for the “Star Wars” franchise. Director Ron Howard told NME in 2022 that there were no plans for a “Solo” sequel.

Stephen and Donald Glover
Image Source: IMDB

Both Donald and Stephen Glover have previously worked together on Donald’s critically-acclaimed FX series, “Atlanta,” as well as the series “Swarm” for Amazon Prime. Donald opened up back in April of this year about returning to the role, saying he’d “love to play Lando again. It’s a fun time, being him. It just has to be the right way to do it.”

Time is precious. The past couple of years, this pandemic shit, it really had people experience time […] People realize their time is valuable. You only get so much. I’m not interested in doing anything that’s going to be a waste of my time or just a paycheck. I’d much rather spend time with people that I enjoy. It just has to be the right thing, and I think it could be. Lando is definitely somebody I’d like to hang out with.

At this point, it seems that Simien is no longer attached to the project, as Variety was told that the Glover brothers would be handing the writing duties for the series alone.

Kathleen Kennedy Announcing that Justin Simien Would Helm the "Lando" Series for Disney+ Starring Donald Glover

This news comes just days after Simien was quoted in The Direct about the status of the “Lando” series, where he said he has “no idea what’s going on with it.” Kennedy said back in 2022 that scheduling was to blame for the series’ delay, acknowledging that Glover is a “popular” and “very busy” performer.

Have you been looking forward to the “Lando” series? Do you think this change could finally get the show’s development and production under way? Let us hear your thoughts in the comments.

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