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With three weeks left of filming, you’d think getting rid of your director wouldn’t be the smartest thing to do. However, it turns out if you’re Star Wars you can do whatever you like as Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy as fired Phil Lord and Chris Miller from directing the solo Han Solo movie.
Both Kennedy and Lord and Miller released statements on StarWars.com.
“Phil Lord and Christopher Miller are talented filmmakers who have assembled an incredible cast a crew, but it’s become clear that we had different creative visions on this film, and we’ve decided to part ways. A new director will be announced soon,” stated Kennedy.
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Lord and Miller added “Unfortunately, our vision and process weren’t aligned with our partners on this project. We normally aren’t fans of the phase ‘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.”
It beggars belief Kennedy and co only realised this now. As you know what you’re getting with Lord and Miller, just look back their previous films – 21 & 22 Jump Street, The Lego Movie etc. So there had to be more behind this than just “creative differences” because you don’t let go your director with weeks left of shooting.
It turns out it could be more based on the old school way of filming a movie compared to the new school as sources close to The Hollywood Reporter revealed “the style and vision of Lord and Miller clashed with that of Lawrence Kasdan.
“Lord and Miller have a comedic sensibility and improvisational style while Kasdan favours a strict adherence to the written word – what is on the page is what must be shot.”
The other issue was the understanding of the character of Han Solo “People need to understand that Han Solo is not a comedic personality. He’s sarcastic and selfish,” added THR’s insider.
This is understandable because Kasdan is the reason why Han Solo is such a beloved character by Star Wars fans thanks to his work on Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. The legendary screenwriter even came back to give Solo his farewell in The Force Awakes.
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So it’s fair for him to have his input and Kennedy did the right thing by standing by her close friend.
“The friction was felt almost immediately when the movie began shooting in February, but the directors always thought it could be worked through. Kennedy, the producer and head of Lucasfilm, to back her lifelong colleague, who shaped much of Solo’s character in Empire and Return of the Jedi and who had a specific tone in mind for the new movie” stated the source.
Although it doesn’t help that “the duo also didn’t feel they had the support of producer Allison Shearmur, who was acting as Lucasfilm’s representative on the London set.”
Who will step in now? While, according to THR, Ron Howard is one of the names being talked about and so is Joe Johnston, who directed The Rocketeer, Jumanji and Captain America: The First Avenger.
Another name in the mix could be Kasdan himself, he has directing experience with The Big Chill and Silverado, plus he already knows what needs fixing.
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It’s expected to be a couple of weeks for Lucasfilm and Disney to find a replacement, meanwhile, the studio has shut down production and see what Lord and Miller have film and sort of movie they have and if it needs major reworking or just needs finishing and some reshoots.
Furthermore, with all these issues, Lucasfilm still wants to release this film in May 2018. It’s unlikely, but by god, they’ll give it a go.
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