'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' Novelization to Include Han Solo's Funeral

Once a common trend for major motion pictures, the idea of a movie being released in novelized form has become a thing of the past, as films debut on Blu-ray and streaming platforms more quickly than ever. The Last Jedi writer/director Rian Johnson, however, has nostalgic feelings from his childhood about these novelizations, ensuring that he would help craft his film's novelization with author Jason Fry. The author shared that, of many additional scenes to be featured in the novel, we will get to read about Han Solo's funeral.

"Rian Johnson and I had an amazing conversation. We got to write entirely new scenes for the book," Fry told The Star Wars Show. "Han Solo's funeral, Rose and Paige Tico together and further explorations of the fascinating world of Canto Bight, to name just a few."

The theatrical cut of the film featured only brief references to Han Solo's passing, most notably when Luke Skywalker reunited with Chewbacca and wondered where Han was. Johnson often explained how his film was going to push forward and deal very little with the past, so we can assume that the filmmaker abandoned the idea of the funeral early on.

"We're just keeping it moving, to be honest with you, man," star John Boyega told ComicBook.com last year. "It's true. The pressure's on, man. There's no time…In terms of Han, I'm sure we all feel sentimental – if someone were to sit Finn down, sit Rey down. But Rey's off training, she's got stuff to do. I've got a back injury, I've got stuff to do. I can't think about Han at the moment."

Johnson went on to recall what excited him most about novelizations.

"When I was a kid, when a movie I loved would come out, I would ride my bike to the grocery store and I would get the novelization. I was very lucky, I got to sit down, up at Skywalker Ranch, and meet with the author who wrote the novel for Star Wars: The Last Jedi," Johnson revealed. "I got to talk through some interesting additional scenes from the film. That's kind of the fun stuff you can get into a novel that you can't always get onto the screen. I'm very happy that we got to do this novel. I hope you will enjoy it."

The novelization is currently available for pre-order and will hit shelves on March 6.

The Last Jedi is in theaters now.

[H/T YouTube, Star Wars]

Note: If you purchase one of the awesome products featured above, we may earn a small commission from the retailer. Thank you for your support.