Ron Howard, who replaced Phil Lord and Chris Miller as director on Solo: A Star Wars Story details some of the behind-the-scenes issues that were plaguing the production. In an interview with Vulture, the Oscar-winning filmmaker discussed his atypical experience helming the Star Wars spinoff. As most fans know, Lucasfilm made the shocking decision to part ways with Lord and Miller deep into principal photography. After Kathleen Kennedy and Solo co-writer Jon Kasdan reached out to Howard to see if he’d come onboard, Howard reviewed some of Lord and Miller’s footage and spotted the problems. Essentially confirming what fans has suspected for years, Howard realized Lord and Miller kept going off script.
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“I looked at some edited footage, and I saw what was bothering them,” Howard said. “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.”
Solo arguably remains the most notorious example of Lucasfilm having creative differences with filmmakers in the Disney era. Despite that tumultuous production process, Solo actually earned generally positive reviews, with critics seeing it as a safe but fun spinoff. Where Solo truly failed was at the box office. The late-stage director change and substantial reshoots caused the production budget to balloon, and Solo was no match for stiff competition like Avengers: Infinity War and Deadpool 2. It earned just $393 million worldwide.
In the wake of Solo becoming the first Star Wars film to bomb at the box office, Disney CEO Bob Iger instituted a slowdown on the franchise’s film slate. He felt that too many new movies had been released over a short period of time. While there continue to be new Star Wars TV shows on Disney+, the films have been on an extended hiatus since 2019’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. That’s set to change soon with The Mandalorian & Grogu out in theaters next year and Star Wars: Starfighter premiering in 2027.
When Lord and Miller were fired from Solo, the prevailing belief was that their comedic filmmaking style contrasted with Lucasfilm’s vision for the spinoff. Howard’s comment that the studio “liked the script the way it was and wanted a Star Wars movie” implies the issues stemmed from Lord and Miller frequently going off script and encouraging improv on set. It’s disappointing the parties couldn’t find a way to smooth out these issues. On paper, Star Wars spin-off films are an opportunity for Lucasfilm to go off script a bit and experiment with different approaches. Allowing Lord and Miller to make an action comedy in the Star Wars franchise would have been fun and a breath of fresh air, illustrating the wide range of what’s possible in this sandbox.
Hopefully, Lucasfilm has learned its lesson and is willing to be more flexible on what “a Star Wars movie” can be. Evolution is the only way the franchise can keep moving forward and remain at the top of its game. The studio has new movies in development from distinct filmmakers like James Mangold and Taika Waititi, and those unique voices should be allowed to shine through. Nobody’s saying make an R-rated Star Wars movie, but it’s okay to go outside the classic Skywalker Saga mold.
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