Well this is a shocker. Despite being in production since February, directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller have exited the young Han Solo Star Wars spinoff movie, citing creative differences with Lucasfilm.
“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,” said Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy. “A new director will be announced soon.”
“Unfortunately, our vision and process weren’t aligned with our partners on this project,” added Lord and Miller. “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.”
THR reports that there are several weeks of the shoot remaining, and it is unclear at this point who is handling directing duties for the remainder of the production. Reshoots are also scheduled for later in the summer. The release date of May 25th 2018 apparently remains unchanged.
UPDATE: THR has now shared some further information on the situation, revealing that Lord and Miller were sacked from the film on Monday, having clashed with screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan over their interpretation of the Han Solo character and “their comedic sensibility and improvisational style”. According to their source, “People need to understand that Han Solo is not a comedic personality. He’s sarcastic and selfish.”
Han Solo stars Alden Ehrenreich (Hail, Caesar!) as the famous smuggler, Donald Glover (Atlanta) as Lando Calrissian, Woody Harrelson (War for the Planet of the Apes) as Beckett (Solo’s mentor), Joonas Suotamo as Chewbacca and Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag) as a droid. Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones), Thandie Newton (Westworld), Ian Kenny (Sing Street) and Michael K. Williams (The Night Of) have been cast in unrevealed roles.
Ash Simp says
I think I’ve lost all faith in Lucasfilm now
Fuzzy says
I’ve read there was only 3 weeks of shooting left – but I guess that may increase now with reshoots of stuff. Surely the guys still get a directing credit though. They’re not gonna scrap 4 months of shooting?!
Gary@FlickeringMyth says
Incredible. You would have thought they’d have just finished the initial shoot and then removed them.
eliottsworld says
How is it possible to split over these differences this late into production? This is the most confusing development I’ve heard of on a blockbuster of this scale. I can’t wrap my head around this.
MikeDK says
No, this is one for the books. Must one the biggest shuffles ever.
Man, am I looking forward to reading the “behind the scenes” articles on this one!!
MikeDK says
Gotta give credit to this statement, though:
“People need to understand that Han Solo is not a comedic personality. He’s sarcastic and selfish.”
That was always my concern, that those two frat boys were making a comedy. Han Solo is not a comedian, he is a scoundrel.