UPDATED, 4:30 AM: The Cannes Film Festival this morning confirmed Deadline’s scoop that Solo: A Star Wars Story will premiere at Cannes to become the third film in the series to come to the Croisette after 2002’s Star Wars: Attack of the Clones and 2005’s Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. Find the official announcement below the original story break.

EARLIER EXCLUSIVE, Thursday, 1:42 PM, PST: Solo: A Star Wars Story will make its debut at the Cannes Film Festival, Deadline has learned.

The festival still is finalizing its competition film roster, but organizers won’t find a bigger film than this one. Sources said that the Lucasfilm origin story will premiere in a special screening May 15, before the picture makes its global premiere May 25. The Ron Howard-directed origin story stars Alden Ehrenreich as the young Han Solo, the role made famous by Harrison Ford. Donald Glover plays Lando Calrissian, and Game of Thrones‘ Emilia Clarke, Woody Harrelson, Paul Bettany and Thandie Newton also star.

The Cannes roster has been the subject of wide speculation, and the festival announced this morning that the Javier Bardem-Penelope Cruz drama Everybody Knows will be the opening-night film, directed by Asghar Farhadi. That and numerous other films have been rumored for weeks, but The Force being with Cannes is a big surprise. Stay tuned. Disney didn’t respond to an inquiry.

SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY IN CANNES

In 2002, it was Star Wars: Attack of the Clones and in 2005, Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. In 2018, what is one of the greatest legends in the history of cinema returns to the red carpet at the next Festival de Cannes.

Presented Out of Competition, the latest film of the Star Wars galaxy by Ron Howard brings together Han Solo, his faithful Chewbacca, the crooked Lando Calrissian, the Millenium Falcon and of course the droids…

The saga’s second spin-off will be unveiled on the screen of the Grand Théâtre Lumière. This episode takes us back to the youth of the famous smuggler, ace pilot and charming scoundrel, Han Solo.

Written by Lawrence and Jonathan Kasdan, and directed by Ron Howard, who starred in George Lucas’ classic American Graffiti and directed numerous popular and critical hits such as Apollo 13 (1995), A Beautiful Mind (2002, Oscars for best film and director).

Alongside Alden Ehrenreich (Blue Jasmine, 2013) who plays Han Solo, the cast includes Woody Harrelson (No Country For Old Men, 2007), Emilia Clarke (Terminator Genisys, 2015), Donald Glover (The Martian, 2015), Thandie Newton (Jefferson in Paris, 1995), Phoebe Waller-Bridge (The Iron Lady, 2011), Joonas Suotamo (Star Wars: The Last Jedi, 2017) and Paul Bettany (Dogville, 2003).

Solo: A Star Wars Story is produced by Kathleen Kennedy, the President of LucasFilm, with Allison Shearmur and Simon Emanuel. The executive producers are Lawrence Kasdan, Jason McGatlin, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller.

The screening in the Grand Amphitheatre Lumière at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes promises to be an event for all fans of the saga and everyone in attendance. Solo: A Star Wars Story is distributed by the Walt Disney Company. It will be released in France on May 23, two days before its release in the United States.