'Solo: A Star Wars Story' Reportedly Premiering Early at the Cannes Film Festival

The upcoming Solo: A Star Wars Story isn't slated to hit theaters until May 25th, but some international fans may have the chance to see it early, with Deadline reporting that the film will make its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on May 15th.

Given the nature of the film festival and how it typically features premieres from films that become major awards contenders, Solo's debut may seem out of place. However, Disney has made a stronger push to appeal to foreign markets and regularly releases them earlier overseas, so the timing of the festival and their planned release date may offer the studio a unique marketing opportunity. At this time, Disney has yet to confirm that the film will premiere at the festival. Additionally, Revenge of the Sith also premiere at the festival, so it's not unheard of for the festival to feature the Star Wars saga.

Some fans have wondered if Solo would have its release date changed, as the replacement of original directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller by Ron Howard led to the film shooting for much longer than initially planned. Instead, Howard has recently confirmed that the entire picture is coming together as scheduled and that we could also expect a new trailer soon.

In response to Howard posting a photo of the film's scoring session, a fan replied, "Coming out next month and you still haven't finalized the film?? I have a bad feeling about this." Howard then assured, "Edit is locked. Score done. Right on schedule. Hope you check Solo out and find it fun."

Despite the excitement surrounding the film, fans are also apprehensive about the final product, knowing that Lord and Miller reportedly left the project with only weeks left of principal photography. One of the possibly many consequences of the intensive reshoots is that Michael K. Williams was unavailable to reprise the role he filmed with Lord and Miller, resulting in Paul Bettany replacing the actor entirely.

We might never know exactly how much different the final film will be, as Howard won't be explaining the changes anytime soon.

"I don't really want to explain it. I don't really want to be specific about that because, again, I don't even want that to matter to fans," Howard shared with Entertainment Weekly. "I could understand why you'd ask, and some might even be curious, but look, everybody who has been involved in this has done nothing but love what this movie could be, and that's been the vibe around it. I think audiences are gonna feel that love and excitement."

Solo: A Star Wars Story opens on May 25th.

What do you make of Disney's possible decision to premiere the film early? Let us know in the comments below!

[H/T Deadline]