Help them Opie/Ron, you’re their only hope.
Lucasfilm announced Thursday that Oscar-winner Ron Howard would step in as director to finish the Han Solo prequel after the original filmmakers were fired in the middle of production.
He is replacing the original Star Wars spinoff directors, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, after their improvisational style and comic tastes ran afoul of screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy.
“At Lucasfilm, we believe the highest goal of each film is to delight, carrying forward the spirit of the saga that George Lucas began forty years ago,” Kennedy said in a statement. “With that in mind, we’re thrilled to announce that Ron Howard will step in to direct the untitled Han Solo film. We have a wonderful script, an incredible cast and crew, and the absolute commitment to make a great movie. Filming will resume the 10th of July.”
The news was first reported by Deadline.com.
Then directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller with the cast of the Han Solo prequel on the first day of filming earlier this year.Howard will have his work cut out to keep the film’s scheduled release date of May 25, 2018, the 41st anniversary of the release of the original Star Wars.
“Unfortunately, our vision and process weren’t aligned with our partners on this project,” Lord and Miller said in a joint release earlier this week. “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.”
The film stars Alden Ehrenreich as a younger version of everyone’s favorite scoundrel and Donald Glover as a young Lando Calrissian.
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