A full 24 hours hasn’t even passed since news dropped that Phil Lord and Christopher Miller would be leaving the HAN SOLO movie, and already names are being thrown out as to who can come in to finish the job. According to Deadline one name that has surfaced is Oscar-winner Ron Howard, someone who sources say is Lucasfilm's top choice to take over the movie at the eleventh hour.
Howard emerged as a frontrunner to take on the gig mere hours after the news dropped the duo of Miller and Lord had left the project due to “creative differences”, with reportedly only three weeks left in shooting. No word has been issued yet on whether or not Howard will take the gig, but another name being linked with the job is screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan, who despite having not as much directorial experience is someone with deep knowledge into the story and knows exactly what the studio is looking for.
As for the details as to why Lord and Miller had to exit the project, Variety is reporting that clashes between the duo, Lucasfilm's Kathleen Kennedy and Kasdan were going on "from day one." "She didn’t even like the way they folded their socks," said one source. Apparently, Kennedy didn't like the pair's shooting style, nor the way they interacted with the cast and crew. Between this and differences with Kasdan, the directors weren't given the the creative freedom they normally had on other films, creating what the source called "a polarizing set."
“Kathy, her team and Larry Kasdan have been doing it their way for a very long time. They know how the cheese is made and that’s how they want it made,” the source said.
From a fan perspective nothing but anxiety has come from this news, with many likening it to the behind-the-scenes problems on last year's ROGUE ONE, including disagreements between director Gareth Edwards and Lucasfilm/Disney, which ultimately resulted in extensive reshoots. Lord and Miller’s timing is the key cause for alarm here, and given how little time remained in production people are speculating the situation that caused their departure had to be quite serious.
But only time will reveal more about the details of the matter. For now we have to remember Disney and Lucasfilm have a movie to finish, and if they're looking for someone to get this ship sailing again just so it can make it to port they could do a lot worse than Ron Howard. To say the director has years of experience would be an understatement, and he’s more than capable of coming in and getting everything back on track for the movie’s May 2018 release. Jeez, what a mess.
THE UNTITLED HAN SOLO ANTHOLOGY MOVIE will (hopefully) arrive next May.