Justin Simien has shared his grief over Disney's decision to scrap his Star Wars: Lando series in favor of turning it into a movie.
Simien, who was attached to write and helm the planned Disney+ series centered around a young Lando Calrissian (played by Donald Glover), told Collider he found it difficult to let the project go, especially since it was well into its development and they had already laid some significant groundwork.
"It was pretty developed," Simien said. "There was a Bible, there was concept art, there were scripts, but it just wasn't meant to be.
"You have to really face it," he added about the experience. "It is true grief. I've never had a child, I've never lost a child, but it's what I imagine that pain might be like. You pour so much of your heart and soul into something, but ultimately, you don't have control over whether it lives or dies, and it is a true grieving process."
Simien only found out about the change of direction when the news hit the trades and initially struggled with that discovery, but he now admits "the writing was super on the wall." He ended up finding strength from the situation, as he realised that he could take what he had learned from the experience and apply it to future projects.
"For me, it has to be done pretty straight on like, 'I am in grief. I do not feel good.' I have to let myself feel those feelings," the filmmaker candidly revealed. "There's so much that I experience that I get to keep forever and take into the next project. I can't obviously take the storyline or the IP or the characters, but there's so much more that I got, as a maker, and that's mine. Sorry, it's too late, you can't take that part back."
The Star Wars spin-off series following Lando Calrissian was first revealed in 2020 after Donald Glover appeared in 2018's Solo: A Star Wars Story, taking over the character Billy Dee Williams originated. But few updates came in the years after that, with even Simien expressing uncertainty over the project's status.
Eventually, news broke online that Donald Glover and Stephen Glover were taking over writing duties on the script as well as turning it into a movie. However, it might take some time to get it to screen, as Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy has stated Star Wars movies need to be James Bond-like events from now on.
Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on X/Twitter here.
