Originally published May 17, 2018. Updated May 18, 2018.
Ron Howard has spoken further about his decision not to direct Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.
Star Wars coming back in 1999 with The Phantom Menace was a big deal, just as it was when the saga returned a few short years ago with Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Directing the comeback would, of course, have been a huge opportunity but it is one that we know Ron Howard didn’t want to take.
Howard has since gone on to direct a film in the Star Wars universe, being the man behind the series’ latest effort Solo: A Star Wars Story. Howard has now, however, spoken further about his decision not to step behind the camera for The Phantom Menace, telling the following to Total Film (via Metro UK):
“I want to clarify that a little. It was a casual conversation in a car park. It was not like I read a script and weighed it carefully. It was a knee-jerk reaction because I immediately felt like George should do it.”
The reason why Howard felt more comfortable directing Solo is because the franchise is a little less intimidating: “Now that other people are broadening the scope and the approach to the movies, it became a more reasonable consideration.”
SEE ALSO: Solo: A Star Wars Story’s Donald Glover says Lando Calrissian is the only role he ever really wanted
A new adventure with the most beloved scoundrel in the galaxy. Through a series of daring escapades deep within a dark and dangerous criminal underworld, Han Solo meets his mighty future copilot Chewbacca and encounters the notorious gambler Lando Calrissian, in a journey that will set the course of one of the Star Wars saga’s most unlikely heroes.
Solo: A Star Wars Story features Alden Ehrenreich (Hail, Caesar!) as the famous smuggler, Donald Glover (Atlanta) as Lando Calrissian, Woody Harrelson (War for the Planet of the Apes) as Tobias Beckett, Joonas Suotamo as Chewbacca, Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag) as L3-37, Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) as Qi’Ra, Thandie Newton (Westworld) as Val, Ian Kenny (Sing Street) as Rebolt, Harley Durst (Wonder Woman) as Moloch, Jon Favreau (Spider-Man: Homecoming) as Rio Durant, Tien Hoang (Now You See Me 2) as Moloch’s henchman, Paul Bettany (Avengers: Infinity War) as Dryden Vos and Warwick Davis (Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi) in an as-yet-unrevealed role.
