When the original directors of “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” Phil Lord and Chris Miller, were pulled off the project only for Ron Howard to quickly swoop in to help finish the sci-fi fantasy heist film, it seemed like the replacement was fast-tracked. From how Howard tells those events, a friendly call with the studio might have sparked those events coming together as quickly as they did.
In a recent interview with Vulture, Howard explained how calling Lucasfilm studio head Kathleen Kennedy out of the blue led to an informal breakfast meeting in London (as Howard as due to link up with Hans Zimmer) that turned into replacing Phil Lord and Chris Miller, as the studio was concerned the directing duo wasn’t sticking to the script that was co-written by Jon Kasdan. Something that one could interpret as Kennedy putting out feelers internally with a Lucasfilm alum like Howard, having helmed “Willow” before for them.
“I’d always been curious about Star Wars, and ‘Solo’ landed in my lap when I didn’t have another movie set to go…I reached out to Kathy Kennedy just to say ‘Hi.’ And she said, ‘Do you want to come to breakfast?’ I said, ‘Okay.’ Also, the late Alli Shearmur, who I had worked with before, and Jon Kasdan eventually showed up. They basically said, ‘We’ve reached a creative impasse with Lord and Miller. Would you ever consider coming in?’ I looked at some edited footage, and I saw what was bothering them. There was a studio that liked the script the way it was and wanted a ‘Star Wars’ movie, but there was a disconnect early on tonally, and they weren’t convinced that what Phil and Chris were doing was working effectively.”
One could allude from these quotes from Howard that the studios shared their cold feet with him before it was made public, and potentially being given the heads before the directors were given their pink slips.
“I couldn’t judge that because I didn’t see enough of it to know. But they were sure. Once I said, ‘Okay, I think I can do this script, and I think I understand what you want of this script,’ they said, ‘We’d want to reshoot a lot.’ I looked at the whole movie and then pointed out some things that I thought were great. And Phil and Chris were incredibly gracious throughout that process. They were just seeing two different movies. So I came in, I had a blast, but there’s nothing personal about that film whatsoever. It’s still just a shame. I can’t wait for Phil and Chris’s next movie.”
“Solo” ultimately was a box office disappointment (only mustering $393 million when those hefty reshoot and marketing costs were factored in), and Disney hit the pause button on the movies as projects like “Obi-Wan Kenobi” and “The Book of Boba Fett” were moved from the feature film division to the streaming side of things. We’re still curious if Alden Ehrenreich ever returns as Han Solo or if Donald Glover‘s Lando project sees the light of day after years of development.
Christopher Marc is lead writer at The Playlist and the primary engine behind our daily news coverage. Chris is based in Canada and tracks everything from Marvel and Star Wars developments to arthouse acquisitions and festival buzz with equal enthusiasm and an instinct for the story readers actually want to read.
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