I’ve been reluctant to get into the reasons Phil Lord and Chris Miller were removed from the Star Wars anthology untitled Han Solo film. If you’re interested, there is some excellent reporting on the matter on THR. Meanwhile, the newly hired director, Ron Howard, has the support of Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy and screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan, and he’ll drive the production going forward.
Production has been paused while Howard comes up to speed, reviews existing filmed footage, and meets with cast and crew. Production is expected to resume on July 10 with Howard at the helm. Major productions like these usually have some elasticity built into the schedule for unexpected delays (such as Harrison Ford breaking his leg on The Force Awakens, for instance). But there is still some doubt if the Han Solo film will be able to make its planned May 2018 release.
As it turns out that bastion of Hollywood reporting TMZ caught up with Disney chair and CEO Bob Iger and asked him if the Han Solo film would be delayed. Iger responded, “I”m not going to say.” He did sound more hopeful, however, when asked if the movie was doomed. Iger replied, “We have a great cast, a great script, and a great director. It’s going to be fine.”
Watch TMZ’s video here:
Lucasfilm’s untitled Han Solo Star Wars anthology film stars Alden Ehrenreich (Hail Caesar!) as Han Solo, Donald Glover (Atlanta) as Lando Calrissian, Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones), Woody Harrelson (True Detective) as Beckett, Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag), Thandie Newton (Westworld), and Michael K. Williams (The Wire). We hope these bump in the road won’t derail the movie. It’s better they push it back to get it right than push out a project with any weakness.
Has the director change made you rethink your support for Star Wars’ anthology series?