In the most shocking film news in quite some time, directors Lord and Miller have been removed from the ‘Han Solo’ Star Wars anthology film. According to Variety, the directors were removed for multiple reasons. Apparently from day one mega producer Kathleen Kennedy had some issues with the way Lord and Miller were conducting themselves on set. Lord and Miller have been widely recognised as some of the best improvisational directors in the business. Though this time their signature style may have unintentionally cost them their jobs. Kennedy felt that the film was beginning to not resemble a typical Star Wars film as we’ve come to know them. With screenwriter Lawernce Kasdan apparently taking it one step further. By unequivocally stating that Han Solo is not a comedic character and should not be treated as such.
With drama suddenly engulfing the ‘Han Solo’ anthology film. Lucasfilm finds themselves in an unfortunately familiar position with having to find someone to come in at the last minute and right the ship. While shooting last years ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’ Lucasfilm brought in veteran filmmaker and writer Tony Gilroy to fix some problems that came about while shooting the film. The reports to the degree in which Rogue One changed after Gilroy’s arrival still vary to this day. Though it is universally recognised that the third act of the film underwent substantial changes.
What separates this situation from the previous one though, is the fact that director Gareth Edwards was never fired from ‘Rogue One‘. In fact, he worked in accordance with Gilroy to address the film’s issues. ‘Han Solo’ has been shooting since January of this year which makes this sudden departure even more puzzling. One would think that if there were problems on the set, a similar arrangement to ‘Rogue One’ would have been made weeks or months ago. Maybe Kathleen Kennedy was insisting that a similar arrangement occur and Lord and Miller simply were not having it. Only time will tell, but with only three weeks remaining on principal photography lot’s of news should begin to drop very quickly in regard to a replacement director for the project. Currently, the names floating around are Ron Howard (Apollo 13) and Joe Johnston (Jumanji).
We’ll keep you posted with the latest news surrounding the ‘Han Solo’ anthology film. Which is currently set to debut in theatres on May 25th of next year.
