Ron Howard, the Hollywood legendbehind movies likeApollo 13andA Beautiful Mind, was the director selected by Disney and Lucasfilm to carry on theStar Warsprequel spin-offSolo: A Star Wars Storyafter the previous directors, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, did not see eye to eye with producers. The resulting film was well-received by critics, but it wasn’t extremely successful like other films in the franchise created by George Lucas. Howard has recalled his experience completing the movie, and revealed that, while Lord and Miller had been fired from the movie, they were “gracious” when handing over the project.
In a recent conversation withVulture, Howard spilled the beans about participating in the controversialStar Warsproject.Solowas a major turning point in theStar Warsuniverse, as there wereplans for sequels and TV spin-offs, but there were some creative overhauls (and mixed reception of movies and TV shows) that ultimately scrapped the plans to continue. Howard talks about arriving at the project mid-production, with a disconcerted studio trying to save the movie:
“I’d always been curious about Star Wars, and Solo landed in my lap when I didn’t have another movie set to go… They basically said, ‘We’ve reached a creative impasse with Lord and Miller. Would you ever consider coming in?’
“I looked at some edited footage, and I saw what was bothering them. There was a studio that liked the script the way it was and wanted a Star Wars movie, but there was a disconnect early on tonally, and they weren’t convinced that what Phil and Chris were doing was working effectively. I couldn’t judge that because I didn’t see enough of it to know. But they were sure. Once I said, ‘Okay, I think I can do this script, and I think I understand what you want of this script,’ they said, ‘We’d want to reshoot a lot.'
“I looked at the whole movie and then pointed out some things that I thought were great. And Phil and Chris were incredibly gracious throughout that process. They were just seeing two different movies. So I came in, I had a blast, but there’s nothing personal about that film whatsoever. It’s still just a shame. I can’t wait for Phil and Chris' next movie.”
Howard Received a Piece of Advice From George Lucas
It hasn’t been revealed whatLucasfilm didn’t agree withwhen it came to Lord and Miller’s take onSolo. For them to have made such a drastic decision means that there was a breaking point in the project, and rumors imply it was because they were making a comedy. The relationship between co-writer Lawrence Kasdan and the directors was famously documented as tense.
Ultimately, Howard was taken in as a hired gun who re-shot most of the film. While the result didn’t fully appeal to fans,Solois not a bad movie. It just feels like it lacks dramatic depth. This could have been the result of Lucas' early advice to Howard when he was being considered as a frontrunner to direct the movie:
“I talked to him early once, when I was just thinking about doing it. He wasn’t active in the films, but he said, ‘Just don’t forget — it’s for 12-year-old boys.'”
Solo: A Star Wars Story
