Much digital ink has been spilled over Disney’s decision to fire Phil Lord and Chris Miller from the Han Solo Anthology movie – and it’s only Thursday.
Four-and-a-half months into a fairly intense production and, after numerous clashes between the film’s erstwhile directors and screenwriters Lawrence and Jon Kasdan, the Mouse House chose to part ways with Lord and Miller, before quickly drafting in a replacement in the form of Oscar-winning director Ron Howard. All of this unfolded in less than 48 hours, and it’s fair to say that many Star Wars fans are still reeling from the unexpected switcheroo.
Eager to steady the ship, Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy issued an official statement to welcome Howard on board, before confirming that filming is expected to resume on July 10th. That press release was relayed to us via Entertainment Weekly, which also uncovered new morsels of information regarding the strife between Disney and the film’s erstwhile directors. Looks like tone wasn’t the only point of contention wedged between Lord and Miller and the Kasdans.
As previously reported, it seems there’s much more to this fallout than meets the eye. Indeed, “creative differences” is so often a blanket term that’s called upon when two visions don’t align, but EW reports that Lord and Miller’s improvisational style of filmmaking was one of the biggest causes for concern as it went against the Star Wars M.O.
To their credit, it would appear Phil Lord and Chris Miller were under the impression that they were tasked with crafting a comedy movie set within the Star Wars universe, as opposed to an origin story with sprinklings of light-hearted comedy throughout. That all came to a head when the Powers That Be began to pour over early footage, and it wasn’t long until the decision was made.
When dailies began rolling in featuring improvisation from the actors and new ideas from the directors that significantly parted ways with the script, the relationship with the home office at Lucasfilm became fraught. As principal photography for the movie approached its end, it became clear that the filmmakers and producers did not share the same vision for some critical scenes.
Han Solo is still scheduled for release on May 25th, 2018. Before that though comes the launch of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which will be with us on December 15th of this year.