Everyone remembers the iconic scene in the original Star Wars between Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Chewbacca in the Cantina. The iconic Millennium Falcon was among the things discussed and its journey in trekking the Kessel Run in 12 parsecs. No one really knew what Han was on about when he sold that to Luke and Obi-Wan but we knew that was a big deal. When Solo: A Star Wars Story was said to show us that, fans were on board and were ready to witness it on screen. However, writers Lawrence Kasdan and Jonathan Kasdan had some arguments on whether or not it should be included. And how?
Solo was the second anthology film in the series and despite initial skepticism, the film earned mostly positive feedback but it didn’t blow many minds away. The box office returns for the film was not up to par either but it still had some fun moments including the execution of the Kessel Run.
The writers spoke to The Los Angeles Times about the creative process and the father-son duo discussed some initial disagreements regarding the inclusion of the Kessel Run. Lawrence recalls:
“I was drawn to take the job because it suggested to me [that] I get to see how he’s formed, I get to see how he met Chewie — because this is really a love story between them — and very quickly I thought, ‘We’ve heard a lot about the Kessel Run. I want to see it,”
Jonathan had some reservations on that front and was initial skeptical, stating:
“When he said that, I said ‘Really, do we have to?’ Because it’s such a complicated bit of logic, and solving it was really challenging. We spent a lot of time arguing about how it could work [and how] the language of what [Han] says in that one scene shot years ago that you know George [Lucas] was just sitting there thinking, ‘This sounds cool: “I did it in 12 parsecs”‘ — could be flushed out into a fully fledged coherent sequence that was satisfying and fun. I’m thrilled with how it came out, but it was one of the daunting elements of this always.”
Jonathan’s initial hesitation on it was well justified. The line “It’s the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs” is a highly quoted line among Star Wars aficionados. It adds to the badassery of the Falcon and Han Solo. This was a truly daunting task, and expectations were no doubt through the roof when the words ‘Kessel Run’ were heard in the film.
Jonathan gave in to his father’s idea evidently, providing a thrilling scene and some classic Star Wars action. However, it can be argued that it could have been much better executed but it was one of the film’s highlights and even added a little extra information pertaining to the Falcon’s navigation system.
Source: The Los Angeles Times
