Credit: LucasfilmBilly Dee Williams, Lando Calrissian himself, has been teasing a mysterious new project the last couple of days, which made Star Wars fans around the world sit up and notice. Now, Williams has revealed what he’s up to, and it’s not quite what audiences might have expected.
Billy Dee Williams first came to global prominence in The Empire Strikes Back (1980), the Star Wars sequel that established his persona as a suave, morally ambiguous ladies man and gambler (not to mention the first Black character in the franchise). He reprised the role a few years later in Return of the Jedi (1983) and more than a few years later in The Rise of Skywalker (2019), but Lando was a Star Wars icon from the very first moment he stepped on screen.
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‘Lando’: The ‘Star Wars’ Series
As such, many Star Wars fans were understandably excited when he posted a statement online saying, “I am thrilled to share that something truly magnificent is coming soon… This is a dream come true for me, on all that has sustained and carried me through a lifetime of dreams and adventure, it is my honor to share with you. Make sure to enable notifications for stories and posts to stay in the loop, you don’t want to miss this… May the Force be with you all.”
— Billy Dee Williams (@realbdw) August 1, 2023
After all, you don’t end a statement with the most iconic Star Wars reference of all and expect audiences not to get their hopes up.
It had also just been announced that Donald Glover and Stephen Glover would be taking over writing duties on the long-in-development Lando series on Disney+ from Haunted Mansion director Justin Simien (which was the first he heard of it), making it a pretty straightforward leap to imagine that Billy Dee Williams’ announcement had something to do with it.
Billy Dee Williams Has a Memoir
As it turns out (via People), Billy Dee Williams was announcing the publication of his upcoming memoir What Have We Here? rather than his involvement with the Disney+ Lando series.
That said, given that the title is a direct quote from Lando Calrissian in The Empire Strikes Back, and the title has Williams striking a pose in costume, it is fairly safe to assume that his memoir will cover a lot of Star Wars territory.
Prior to appearing in The Empire Strikes Back, Billy Dee Williams was already an established film star, appearing in the acclaimed sports drama Brian’s Song (1971) with James Caan, the Billie Holiday biopic Lady Sings the Blues (1972), and numerous others.
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The book will reportedly cover his entire career and is described by publisher Penguin Random House as “A film legend recalls his remarkable life of nearly eight decades—a heralded actor who’s played the roles he wanted, from Brian’s Song to Lando in the Star Wars universe—unchecked by the racism and typecasting so rife in the mostly all-white industry in which he triumphed.”
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