Bringing an end to the whirlwind saga almost as quickly as it began, Disney has formally appointed Ron Howard to shepherd the Han Solo movie across the finish line.
The Rush filmmaker now replaces Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who were allegedly fired from the project after numerous clashes with screenwriters Lawrence and Jon Kasdan regarding tone and style – Lord and Miller, who hail from a more comedic background thanks to their celebrated work in Warner’s LEGO universe, reportedly pushed to add more humor into the Solo spinoff, only to face staunch opposition from the Kasdans.
Indeed, it’s understood that those creative differences reared their head fairly early on in the process, though Kathleen Kennedy and the Lucasfilm brain trust stood by Phil Lord and Chris Miller on the belief that the directors could reach some form of compromise with Lawrence Kasdan once the cameras began rolling. Alas, that wasn’t the case.
Four months after Phil Lord and Chris Miller first yelled “action!” on the set of Disney’s Han Solo origin movie, the directors have now been replaced by Ron Howard, who is expected to meet with the film’s leading stars – namely Alden Ehrenreich, Donald Glover, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, and Thandie Newton – to outline a new production timeline and, ultimately ease the transition between one director(s) and another.
The Hollywood Reporter estimates that the film was already scheduled to lens for another three-and-a-half-weeks, before reuniting the core cast members for a further five weeks of reshoots – reshoots that had already been incorporated into each actor’s respective schedule. How exactly Howard’s appointment will affect the shoot going forward – if at all – is up for question, but at least for now, the May 25th, 2018 release date remains intact.
It’s been a rough week for Disney and Lucasfilm’s Han Solo anthology movie, but there is now some light at the end of the tunnel, and it seems the Millennium Falcon has found its new captain. Ron Howard will officially shepherd the Star Wars prequel across the finish line, and we’ll be keeping you right up-to-date as the director begins to make the project his own. Whether Lord and Miller will still be listed in the film’s credits, however, is another question entirely.
