‘Solo: A Star Wars Movie’: Ron Howard Says Ad-Libbing Wasn’t An Issue Between Lord & Miller And The Kasdans

Let’s check in with “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” where’s its narrative now? Well, ‘Solo,’ in its third week at the box office did fall from the top slot, but in slightly heartening news for Lucasfilm fans that care about financial things, ‘Solo,’ only dropped -47% this past weekend and for a film that’s faced so many dire numbers so far, that’s a decent hold. Meanwhile, members of the ‘Solo’ cast are still doing press. In the U.K., director Ron Howard sat down with the Empire crew on of their spoiler special podcasts, delving into the ins and outs of some of the decisions that went into the film.

READ MORE: ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’: Let’s Talk About The Movie’s Surprise, WTF? Cameo & How It Connects To Deeper Canon

Of course, there’s talk about the big bad cameo at the end of the film which you probably know by now, but we won’t spoil (you can read more about it here).

Additionally, there’s a kind of rumor debunking by Howard. The congenial filmmaker has always been complimentary of Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the original ‘Solo’ directors who were shitcanned at the last minute, but so far he’s never really eased into the rumors, just sung the duo’s praises.

But in this interview, he does get into refuting some oft-repeated reports. One of the central issues that constantly came up when discussing why Lord and Miller were fired was friction between them and the screenwriters, Lawrence and Jon Kasdan. Some of the original trade reports claimed Lord and Miller never stuck to the script and were often ad-libbing lines which displeased them and consequently, Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy. 

READ MORE: 5 Reasons ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ Couldn’t Make The Jump To Hyperspace

But Howard went out of his way to refute that notion. “By the way, there’s one rumor, I’d like to dispel,” Howard said suddenly when discussing some of the comedy in the movie. “When the disconnect occurred and Phil and Chris left the project and I came onboard there was a lot written that, ‘Oh, the Kasdans didn’t like Phil and Chris’ penchant for ad-libs.’ So not true.”

“The reality is Phoebe was ad-libbing a lot of her stuff, so was Donald,” Howard explained. “And Larry and Jon were delighted by all that, so it’s not like they were insisting that everyone stick to the letter of the script. They appreciated the contributions of the cast.”

READ MORE: ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ & The Inherent Problem With Prequels

Some have suggested that some of the edgier bits of the film — the suggestion of a pansexual Lando Calrissian having a sexual relationship with his droid L3—are Lord and Miller concoctions.

Not so says the director. According to Howard, the scene where Q’ira (Emilia Clarke) and L3 (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) have a little girl talk about Lando was a late addition to the movie and yes, some of it was ad-libbed too.

Evidently there were many late additions to the movie done under Howard’s steady hand including the big monster of the Kessel Run, that notorious concluding cameo and lots of little bits here and there. It’s a fascinating podcast and you should give it a listen.

Back to the box office for a sec (I know, I know), ‘Solo’ might be holding a bit steadier rather than sinking like a stone, but in terms of its “where does it all fit in the ‘Star Wars’ context?” there is no recovery for that hyperdrive.

Just in case you’re wondering, ‘Solo’ is probably going to tap out at about less than $250 million domestically (even this is a hopeful estimate). That’s even less than “The Empire Strikes Back” grossed in 1980 ($290 million) and even 1997’s “Star Wars: A New Hope” (Special Edition) release will outgross ‘Solo’ by a significant margin ($275.9M).

Worldwide, if the film earns less than $418 million worldwide, a distinct possibility, even unadjusted for inflation, it would leave ‘Solo’ as the lowest grossing “Star Wars” film all time globally below 1983’s “Return Of The Jedi.” Wouldn’t you kill to be a fly on the way of Lucasfilm ‘Solo’ post-mortems? “Solo: A Star Wars Story” is in theaters now.