With Justin Simien mentioning the long-gestating Lando series for Disney Plus only last week, prominent trades including Deadline are sharing the news that Haunted Mansion director Simien is out and Donald Glover and his brother Stephen are in and developing the series going forward.
The Glover brothers replace Haunted Mansion director Justin Simien on the project, which was first announced by Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy back in December 2020 as part of Disney Investor Day. At the time, there was no word regarding whether Donald Glover or Billy Dee Williams would be returning as Lando, though current plans obviously call for Donald’s return, as it’s unlikely that he’d write the script for another actor to play the smooth-talking smuggler.
The Hollywood Reporter shared Simien’s response to the question of whether he was still attached to Lando: “I am attached, I think, but I don’t really know. (Laughs.) 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.”
“It seems like I develop things with these companies and they just never happen for reasons unknown,” Simien added.
Above the Line has since learned that Simien has actually been off the Lando series since last summer when he bowed out to continue focusing on his directing duties for Haunted Mansion. With Lucasfilm eager to move forward with the project, execs reached out to Donald Glover, who often writes with his brother, Stephen. The siblings agreed to board the project together, and their take is said to have Lucasfilm brass excited.
This looks like a story with plenty of gas in the tank (or coaxium in the injectors) and we’ll be sure to discuss this and much more in next weeks episode of Making Tracks.
- Hardcover Book
- Blake, Olivie (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 592 Pages - 08/29/2023 (Publication Date) - Random House Worlds (Publisher)
