Phil Lord And Chris Miller Fired From Han Solo Prequel! Ron Howard To Takeover?
Holy shit!
According to THR, directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller have fired from the as of yet untitled Han Solo origin story for clashing with President of Lucasfilm, Kathleen Kennedy, and a near legend of a screenwriter, Lawrence Kasdan.
Apparently, things have been tense since the start of production back in February, as Miller and Lord didn't seem to grasp the tone of who Han Solo is and they seem to have ruffled the feathers of some of Hollywood's "old guard" in Kennedy and Kasadan, as the two directors tend to do things a bit differently with films they work on.
“The creative clash, also came down to differences in understanding the character of Han Solo.
People need to understand that Han Solo is not a comedic personality. He’s sarcastic and selfish.”
“Lord and Miller have a comedic sensibility and improvisational style while Kasdan favors a strict adherence to the written word — what is on the page is what must be shot.”
It sounds like the duo of Lord and Miller, who primarily do movies that are more "youth" orientated, don't fit the mold of "do what you're told" and tend to be a bit looser on set. For whatever reason they were fired, you've got to feel for Miller and Lord in this situation. I mean, it's not like they were an unknown entity and this was their first film. These guys do comedy, albeit of the quick and .gif-y type, but comedy nonetheless. Lucasfilm definitely should've known what these guys were bringing to the table before hiring them. Seems like piss poor planning.
Both Miller and Lord moved themselves and their families to London and have been working on this day in and out, all to be let go this far into production. It's got to suck hard for them. Especially given they were only a few weeks away from finishing filming on Han Solo, with re-shoots set for later this summer.
Miller and Lord released the following statement confirming their departure from the project and they don't shy away from saying why it happened.
“Unfortunately, our vision and process weren’t aligned with our partners on this project. 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.”
There's no new director signed on to finish Han Solo, but the report indicates Lucasfilm is looking towards Ron Howard or Joe Johnston to finish what Lord and Miller started. However, at this point does it really matter who they hire to takeover?
The vast majority of this movie will be in the Miller/Lord tone, and as great as Howard and Johnston are, they are vastly different directors stylistically. One simply does not change directors 4 fucking months into production, without the quality of the film suffering greatly. Unless the re-shoots are going to be a bit on the massive side, kinda of like what Joss Whedon is doing to the Justice League.
Han Solo is still slated to hit theaters on May 25, 2018.
