New 'Solo: A Star Wars Story' Book Goes Behind The Scenes Of The Movie With Industrial Light & Magic

Hopefully, one day, we'll get the extensive story about the drama that unfolded behind the scenes of Solo: A Star Wars Story, which led to directing duo Phil Lord & Chris Miller leaving the project and getting replaced by Ron Howard. But until then, we'll have to settle for a close look at the making of the movie through more official channels by way of a new book from Industrial Light & Magic.

Making Solo: A Star Wars Story is coming to shelves later this month, written by ILM visual effects supervisor and co-producer Rob Bredow. With a huge collection of previously never-before-seen photos from behind the scenes, the book offers plenty of insight into the process of making a Star Wars movie, from pre-production through post-prouction. Check out some of the photos from the Making Solo A Star Wars Story book below.

Here's the official synopsis of the Making Solo A Star Wars Story book:

Industrial Light & Magic Presents: Making Solo: A Star Wars Story is an eyewitness account of the film's production from visual effects supervisor and coproducer Rob Bredow. The book gives readers an intimate glimpse into the journey that Solo took from pre-production, production, and post-production, fully documenting how this film came to the big screen.

Making Solo gives a chronological overview of how this multiple-Academy-Award-winning visual effects company created new worlds, aliens, droids, and vehicles for a galaxy far, far away, including insights into how the train heist on Vandor, L3-37, the Kessel Run, and the reimagined Millennium Falcon were brought to life. A must-have for Star Wars fans, this authorized, all-access book will be an indispensable work for all movie fans and devotees of popular culture.io9 got ahold of some photos from inside the book that offer a fascinating glimpse at the set of Solo:

This photo is just one of those cool behind the scenes moments. Chewbacca, now played by Joonas Suotamo, is just chilling on a folding chair alongside Star Wars good luck charm Warwick Davis, who has played multiple roles in the galaxy far, far away over the years. They're likely relaxing between takes during the scenes where Han Solo and his crew encounter Enfys Nest and her gang.

Then there's this shot from one of the opening sequences in Solo: A Star Wars Story. Han gets brought in to Lady Proxima, who runs the underground gang of thieves on the planet Corellia. It's surprising to see that this alien character was done practically on set. The movie makes it seem like digital effects are used entirely to bring the character to life, but clearly she was present on the set.

Here's a shot from what appears to be rehearsal of the scene where Han Solo and his crew confront Lando Calrissian about working with them on a job. Joonas Suotamo isn't wearing the Chewbacca head, so they're not shooting yet, but their positioning makes it look like they're running through the scene to make sure they have their lines and blocking right.

There are several more photos from Making Solo: A Star Wars Story over at io9. But the only way to see them all is to buy the book when it hits shelves on April 16, 2019. You can pre-order it right here.