According to The Hollywood Reporter, the original Lando Calrissian, Billy Dee Williams, is set to reprise his role for Star Wars: Episode IX.
Production on the film is slated to begin later this summer, and rumors pertaining to Williams joining the cast circulated when he dropped out of an upcoming sci-fi/pop culture convention due to it conflicting with a movie schedule. Sources then confirmed to THR that Williams would be in the upcoming film, which would mark the first time since 1983 (when he was in Return of the Jedi) that he's appeared in a Star Wars movie.
However that is not to say that the 81-year-old Williams hasn't been involved in some way with the franchise, as he's voiced Lando in cartoons, video games, and made appearances at conventions.
Though it's unsurprising given the intensity of Star Wars' fan base, interest in Lando has always been strong, and it was only fueled by Donald Glover's depiction of a younger Lando in this year's Solo: A Star Wars Story.
As for Episode IX, it is set to be directed by J.J. Abrams, and it's also been confirmed that we'll see Adam Driver (Kylo Ren), Daisy Ridley (Rey), John Boyega (Finn), and Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron) reunited for a plot we otherwise no jack about.
Star Wars: Episode IX is set to be released to theaters on December 20, 2019.
Stay tuned for more info about the film as it slowly but surely rolls in.
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