Donald Glover And His Brother Stephen Are Now Writing The 'Lando' Series
They take over from 'Haunted Mansion' director Justin Simien, who seemed completely blindsided
If it wasn’t implied before that Disney+’s Lando series would be about a younger Lando Calrissian, it’s much clearer now. Donald Glover, who has been in talks to reprise the role he played in Solo: A Star Wars Story, and brother Stephen Glover have taken over the writing of the series as it continues to develop at Lucasfilm.
The series was originally announced in December 2020’s Disney Investor Day presentation by Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy. Justin Simien, whose Haunted Mansion remake for Disney opened this weekend, had been the writer.
The news came a little over a week after Simien opened up about his work on the series in an interview with The Direct, stating “I certainly poured my heart and spent a lot of time working with them to put together a really great show,” Simien told.
“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.”
Even still, he told The Hollywood Reporter shortly before the news broke that while he felt he was still attached he could essentially feel something was up that would jeopardize the truth of the feeling. “I am attached, I think, but I don’t really know.” He laughed. “The last thing I was told was that they loved it but needed to put a pin in it until they could figure out everybody’s availability. I haven’t investigated further, but I’m not an idiot.” He added “It seems like I develop things with these companies and they just never happen for reasons unknown”, certainly showing discouragement. He also worried it was over his blackness and/or queerness.
Source claims that Simien has actually been off the Lando series since last summer, allegedly when he withdrew to continue focusing on his Haunted Mansion directing duties. Lucasfilm was still eager to get the project moving, so executives reached out to Donald Glover, who often writes with his brother. The siblings boarded the project together, and Lucasfilm higher-ups are said to be excited about their take. The Glovers’ involvement has apparently been kept secret for months, signing on well before the WGA strike and haven’t performed any work on the project since said strike began on May 2.
However, when the news dropped, it turns out this was the wave being made. Simien found out with the rest of us on social media, specifically through Variety. He posted on his Instagram one of the publication’s graphics about the story, captioning it “This is me finding out rn (right now)”. He followed it up by reposting the image, congratulating the brothers with these words:
"Donald is a national treasure. Glad he and Stephen get to carry the character forward their way. Can’t wait to see. Rooting for everybody Black."
Of course, with the studios refusing to negotiate in good faith with either the actors or the writers, everything is at a halt. It will probably be a while before things can get moving again. The Community and Atlanta alum recently cameoed as a variant of Aaron Douglas in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse that had become the Prowler, having first played the role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Spider-Man: Homecoming. Stephen also wrote on Atlanta, and the House Party reboot. Their collaborations together include Donald’s Saturday Night Live episode in season 43, Prime Video’s series Swarm, making a star of Dominique Fishback, and the movie Guava Island, which paired Donald with Rihanna from a screenplay written by Stephen. Aside from the Community movie, Donald also has a Mr. and Mrs. Smith remake coming for Prime Video as well.
Source: Above the Line, The Direct