Established 1961 31 Lifestyle Feature Sunday, May 13, 2018

Emilia Clarke attends the premiere of Disney Pictures and Lucasfilm’s ‘Solo: A Story’ at the El Storm Troupers Chewbacca attends the premiere. Capitan Theatre in , . Hollywood glitters as ‘Star Wars’ stages ‘Solo’ premiere

ucasfilm brought the biggest party in the galaxy to Hollywood on Thursday as rapt devotees gathered Lunder the for the world premiere of the latest “Star Wars” spin-off. “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” which gets its US release on May 25, tells the coming-of-age tale of smuggler before he was the galaxy’s most adored scoundrel. The glittering array of stars in Hollywood Boulevard included cast members Alden Ehrenreich, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Donald Glover, Thandie Newton and Paul Bettany. “One of my favorite movies growing up was ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.’ I think this movie has a lit- tle bit of the fun of that film,” said Ehrenreich, who plays Solo, on the red carpet. Hollywood’s A-list-”Star Wars” alumni or otherwise- turned out for the second in the “anthology” series of spin-off films that started in 2016 with “Rogue One.” Among them were Mark Hamill, Ewan McGregor, Sofia Vergara, Alexandra Daddario, Benjamin Bratt and Johnny Knoxville. The Disney-owned Lucasfilm delighted fans in April with a sneak peak of one of the most hotly-anticipated scenes from the movie, the first meeting between the young Solo and Glover’s . “A very slow week, but hopefully it will speed up as soon this movie comes out,” joked Glover, whose rap alter ego Childish Gambino has racked up a record-breaking 70 million YouTube views in just four days with his latest single “This is America” Glover said the best thing about playing Lando was the fans, who began recognizing him as the galaxy’s sexiest gambler the very day he was announced for the part, when he went for a pizza.

Cast, crew and executives attend the premiere. Solo’s friend since childhood. “And I think that the way Movie” and “21 Jump Street,” were dropped after clashing that we get there is satisfying.” with Lucasfilm chief Kathleen Kennedy and writer The movie, which comes just five months after “Star , according to reports. Wars: The Last Jedi,” has endured a journey to screen “This is showmanship at its best and it’s what ‘Star that has been bumpier than the Falcon completing the Wars’ fans deserve, this kind of excitement. But I’m also Kessel Run. really glad that we worked very hard to make this release Oscar-winning filmmaker was brought in date,” said Howard. “It was a big challenge. The movie was last year to replace sacked directing duo Phil Lord and not compromised one bit and I’m so glad because it really Chris Miller. The pair behind the acclaimed “The LEGO feels like a summer movie to me.” Solo’s Wookiee com- panion Chewbacca is played by six foot 10 inch (2.08- Ron Howard and Alden Ehrenreich meter) Finnish basketballer Joonas Suotamo who took over from Peter Mayhew, starting with “The Force Awakens” (2015). “I just approached it as another adven- ture happening at a different time in Chewbacca’s life,” Actor Peter Mayhew Suotamo said. It’s what “It was interesting to approach this time when Chewbacca doesn’t know Han, he doesn’t know all these people, he’s in a really bad spot and he’s looking Bumpy ride Star Wars for a way out.” The trailers have also offered a glimpse of the pivotal Experts are predicting an opening weekend domestic moment in “Star Wars” lore when Han beats Lando in a box office of around $137 million, some way short of the card game to win the Millennium Falcon starship, a full- $155 million recouped by “Rogue One” and a figure size version of which was constructed for the premiere. fans deserve dwarfed by Marvel twice already this year.—AFP “Everything about this movie is getting you ready for what you already know,” said Emilia Clarke-Daenerys Targaryen on HBO’s “Game of Thrones”-who plays Qi’ra, Thandie Newton

Actress Sophia Alexandra Phoebe Carson McAllister Vergara Daddario Waller-Bridge Peyton List and Witney Carson