Before I proceed into what is undoubtedly another bizarre tidbit to come out of Solo: A Star Wars Story, let me stress that I don’t claim to know the intricacies of film production – nor do I understand the inner workings of a major Hollywood studio like Lucasfilm.
But when Alden Ehrenreich comes out and admits that Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the erstwhile directors of Solo: A Star Wars Story, spent three weeks – 21 days – shooting Han and Chewie’s first encounter, I can’t help but cock an eyebrow. Three weeks!
It’s no wonder Lucasfilm took issue with Lord and Miller’s laxed approach, ultimately deciding to bring in a proven Oscar-winner in Ron Howard to help steady the ship. He succeeded, by and large, and steered Han’s solo flight to strong reviews and a relatively healthy box office return – even if $400M was considered a misfire when all was said and done.
As spotted by Screen Rant, it’s Solo‘s roundtable that brings forth new intel about Lord and Miller’s experimental techniques behind the lens, with Ehrenreich revealing that:
It took three weeks to shoot… It was three weeks, it was the first thing we shot. And it was very muddy. I mean, what was great about it is, because that was the first thing we were going to do in pre-shoots, is that we had to work out all the fight choreography.
Fight choreography is one thing, but it shouldn’t force production to grind to a halt for a period of three weeks. Nevertheless, you can’t deny the at-times effortless chemistry between Alden Ehrenreich’s nerf-herder and everyone’s favorite walking carpet – played on this occasion by Joonas Suotamo.
The actor concluded:
So, Joonas and I got to spend a month working, and both doing the stunt training generally, but working through that fight choreography, and it was a great opportunity for us to really get comfortable with each other, get to know each other, joke around, and Joonas is so funny. Starting with that kind of core thing that obviously lasts throughout the rest of Han’s life was kind of a special thing.
Currently available on digital platforms, look for Solo: A Star Wars Story to expand onto Blu-ray and DVD next Tuesday, September 25th.