It was a big surprise last year when it was announced that director Justin Simien was leaving the Disney+ series Star Wars: Lando, which was canceled. The project was being retooled into a movie being helmed by Donald Glover and his brother, Stephen Glover. Simien discussed in his series Holly Black via Collider to discuss his mourning of having to leave the project.
"For me, the answer is that you have to really face it," Simien explained. "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. 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."
it also sounds like the project was well underway the pre-production. Simien described what point in the process they were when the cancelation came, "It was pretty developed. Yeah, there was a Bible, there was concept art, there were scripts, but it just wasn’t meant to be."
Simien isn't letting go of the ideas from the series. While they can't be Star Wars doesn't mean they can't be retooled in other ways, "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."
While I am excited for the Lando movie as Glover's take on the character was one of the best parts of Solo: A Star Wars Story, it must be crushing to put so much work into a series only to have is canceled on you. There wasn't even a direct conversation with Simien, as he revealed, "They probably won’t want me to say this, but I knew it was official when I read it in the trades."
It's heart wrenching to see, but Simien sounds like he's doing better, "I get over it. I’m in therapy a lot."