Star Wars: Billy Dee Williams Celebrates His 40-Year Friendship with Harrison Ford

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is finally hitting theaters tonight and will see the return of many franchise favorites from the new trilogy as well as the original. One actor who is making their triumphant return to the galaxy far, far away is Billy Dee Williams, who first played Lando Calrissian in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back back in 1980. This will be the first time Williams has donned the cape since Star Wars: Return of the Jedi was released in 1983, and he’s made it clear that he’s honored to be a part of the saga once again. Williams has been sharing some fun content from the movie’s big premiere, which happened on Monday, and his latest post shows him reunited with an old pal: Harrison Ford. While Ford isn’t expected to show up in The Rise of Skywalker, he did make an appearance at the premiere.

“Some things never change…over 40 years of friendship,” Williams wrote.

Many people commented on the post:

“The Best Bromance In The History Of Cinema- On & Off Screen! I am very glad you and Mr. Ford have been friends for all this time,” @arjay_clark wrote.

“I wanna party with these dudes,” @shawsomematt replied.

“The best. That level of talent cannot be replaced,” @DominicPPace added.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is set to star a returning Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Kelly Marie Tran, Joonas Suotamo, and Billie Lourd. New cast members include Naomi Ackie, Richard E. Grant, and Keri Russell, and the returning veteran actors are Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Billy Dee Williams, and Ian McDiarmid as the Emperor. According to the director, J.J. Abrams, Leia will be featured in the film using unreleased footage of Carrie Fisher from Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

During the Episode IX panel at Star Wars Celebration this year, Abrams teased what fans can expect from the upcoming movie:

“The movie doesn’t pick up immediately after the last film,” he shared. “Some time has passed. This movie is an adventure the group goes on together. One of the great things about getting to work on the movie is the dynamic between all of the characters. They’re amazing together, and it’s something I’m excited for you all to see.”

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is expected to hit theatres on December 20th.