After Phil Lord and Christopher Miller left the HAN SOLO movie this week news circulated that Ron Howard was Lucasfilm’s top choice to take over the remainder of shooting on the movie. Now after only a short period of time, Deadline has now confirmed that the Oscar-winning director will indeed finish the film so it can make it’s May 2018 release.
Disney is planning to make the announcement official shortly, and Howard will set off for Pinewood Studios immediately to get things back on track.
The HAN SOLO movie has been in production for months, and word is there was only three weeks left in shooting when Lord and Miller exited the project. However, the problem that arises with this shift comes from the DGA (Director's Guild of America). Given how much of the film is already done there is most likely not a lot left to do on the film (excluding reshoots this fall). When all is said and done, Miller and Lord will have done the most work on the movie, and chances are the majority of what we see will be their handiwork. But with their exit, and Howard's entrance, there is the issue of who will get the final "Directed by" credit. Chances are high Lord and Miller will receive the credit, but we could see some "Additional scenes" accredited to Howard, or something along those lines.
Like I said yesterday, Howard is a fine choice to finish the job. This isn't so much a matter of finding someone with a certain style so much as it is about having a seasoned vet come in and tidy things up. Howard is great with ensembles, which should make for an easy transition given the size of the cast on this movie. All in all I think the movie is in safe hands…but it also means Tom Hanks may make an appearance.
The HAN SOLO movie is set for May 2018.