86-year-old Billy Dee Williams is down to play Lando Calrissian again…provided he gets paid enough to return.
Star Wars fans haven’t seen Lando Calrissian – that is, the Billy Dee Williams version – on the big screen in five years. But will we ever again? With so many Star Wars projects on the horizon, it’s possible that Lando could turn up in some corner of the galaxy…But would Williams ever don the cape again? Sure – provided you show him the dough.
As Billy Dee Williams told Radio Times on any potential return to the character, “Pay me a lot of money and I’ll sell my soul.” As portrayed by Williams, Lando Calrissian first appeared in 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back, a former friend of Han Solo’s and one-time owner of the Millennium Falcon, the lore of which would be explored later in the Star Wars saga. Williams would return as Lando for 1983’s Return of the Jedi but wouldn’t reprise the character again – in the flesh, at least – until the third entry in the latest trilogy, 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker.
But Billy Dee Williams has made a career out of Lando Calrissian, albeit primarily through voice work, having appeared in a number of Lego Star Wars productions (both on TV and in video games), not to mention odd one-offs on Robot Chicken and The Cleveland Show.
As of late, timeline shifts have bumped Williams for Donald Glover, who took over Lando for 2018’s Solo: A Star Wars Story. On Glover, Williams said, “He’s part of a whole new generation. He’ll create whatever he needs to create, to bring appeal to the character. He’s a very talented young lad and very imaginative. I mean, it’s not for me to say what he should do with the character at this stage. I took care of the 20th century, now he’s got to take care of the 21st.” And that he will, as the planned Lando Calrissian TV series has morphed into a planned movie.
Still, Williams keeps Lando close, and while he does have praise for Glover, there’s really only one man that comes to mind when you think of the character. “He’s a delightful young man. Extremely talented. But I don’t see him…I mean, when it comes to Lando Calrissian there’s only one Lando Calrissian. I created that character.”
Are you ready for Billy Dee Williams to return as Lando Calrissian or has that Falcon sailed? Drop your thoughts below!