Ron Howard Confirmed To Direct 'Han Solo' Movie

Well, that didn’t take long, and it’s not a big surprise. With Phil Lord and Chris Miller‘s surprise exit from Disney‘s ‘Han Solo‘ movie this week, right in the midst of production with weeks of shooting (and scheduled reshoots) slated to take place, Disney needed to act fast to find a replacement. And they have.

Frontrunner Ron Howard is now confirmed to get in the director’s chair for ‘Han Solo.’ Other contenders floated included Joe Johnston (“Captain America: The First Avenger,” “Jurassic Park III“) and longtime franchise writer Lawrence Kasdan, but neither seemed to be under serious consideration, and in the case of the latter, his hiring would’ve violated DGA rules which state a producer cannot replace a director on the same project.

Howard brings a steady, veteran hand to the film, with lots of experience with big budget filmmaking to boot. Moreover, he’s a longtime friend of George Lucas‘, directed “Willow” for Lucasfilm, and perhaps most importantly, was approached to direct the “Star Wars” prequels early on.

Howard will now complete the three-and-a-half weeks of shooting remaining on the film, which will resume on July 10th, and the upcoming five weeks of reshoots (though I’m guessing that might be expanded). Yet to be answered is how the director’s credits will read on the final film, but that’s for the DGA to decide. [THR]