It was all going so well. The original announcement that the next standalone movie would focus on a young Han Solo proved divisive, but ever since then, Disney and LucasFilm hadn’t put a foot wrong.
Directors? Chris Miller and Phil Lord, the minds behind the Jump Street films and The Lego Movie. Great choice.
The cast? Filled with fantastic actors, from Woody Harrelson and Donald Glover to Emilia Clarke and newcomer/Harrison Ford clone Alden Ehrenreich.
Now though, the movie has hit its first real speed bump. In fact, it’s perhaps the biggest speed bump Disney have come up against since they purchased the franchise and sought to continue it. Variety revealed this morning that directors Lord and Miller have left the project.
This is incredible news considering the movie is currently still in the middle of production. There are still several weeks left of shooting and then reshoots set to take place over summer. Not only have Lord and Miller left, but it’s been announced they were, in fact, fired. Apparently this comes after months of conflict with Kathleen Kennedy, the famous producer, as well other members of LucasFilm. This includes legendary writer Lawrence Kasdan, who is serving as co-writer and executive producer on the upcoming movie.
This war of words, it appears, has been focused on the lack of freedom Miller and Lord received on the project. It makes sense that LucasFilm and Disney want to have a firm grip on the films considering the high pressure linked to Star Wars properties. It is however extremely disappointing that we will not be getting their unique vision of the universe. Much like Edgar Wright and his departure from Ant-Man, it feels like a missed opportunity.
Here’s the statement from Lord and Miller on the situation:
“Unfortunately, our vision and process weren’t aligned with our partners on this project. We normally aren’t fans of the phrase ‘creative differences’ but for once this cliché is true. We are really proud of the amazing and world-class work of our cast and crew.”
Kennedy’s statement alludes to creative differences too:
“Phil Lord and Christopher Miller are talented filmmakers who have assembled an incredible cast and crew, but it’s become clear that we had different creative visions on this film, and we’ve decided to part ways.”
With Kennedy and co. supposedly not happy with the way Lord and Miller interacted with the cast and crew as well as their shooting style, the question arises of “who will finish the project?” Variety mention the possibility of Ron Howard taking over, although no deal has been struck as of yet.
There’s time still to set things straight as the Han Solo movie is still a ways off – slated for release on May 25th 2018 – but this saga has taken quite the unexpected turn. We’ll have to see where it goes from here.
Stay tuned to TiCGN for more news, reviews and updates.
