In extreamly shocking news. Today, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy announced on StarWars.com that the hot directing duo Chris Miller and Philip Lord (21 Jump Street, The Lego Movie) have left the still untitled Han Solo spin-off Star Wars film. The press release cites “creative differences” as the usual reason the directors have left. This is extreamly odd considering the film has been in production since late January and apparently only had about 3 weeks left of filming to go:
The untitled Han Solo film will move forward with a directorial change.
“Phil Lord and Christopher Miller are talented filmmakers who have assembled an incredible cast and 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,” said Kathleen Kennedy, president of Lucasfilm.
“Unfortunately, our vision and process weren’t aligned with our partners on this project. We normally aren’t fans of the phrase ‘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,” stated Phil Lord and Christopher Miller.
Later after this press release was released online it was acutally revealed by The Hollywood Reporter that the directing duo had been fired by the studio. Apparently, their usual tounge-and-cheek directing styles behind the scenes did not sit well with Kathleen Kennedy since Day 1. The studio had a clear way of operating behind-the-scenes that the duo just did not abide by. The duo also got into many arguments with Han Solo and Empire Strikes Back screenwriter/producer Lawrence Kasdan over the direction of the script.
Currently, many fans have asked for any number of top name directors to take over the directing duties and post-production. Some have mentioned Tony Gilroy who helped on Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. While others even mentioned Donald Glover to direct. Glover is set to star in the film as Lando Calrissian but has some writing and directing credits on his hit FX series Atlanta. Currently however it’s been revealed that Ron Howard (In The Heart of the Sea) is the front-runner to direct but other names mentioned includes Joe Johnston (Captain America: The First Avenger) and even Lawrence Kasdan himself. Reshoots is expected to take place later this summer after a new director is found.
Lastly, The Wrap is reporting that Chris Miller & Phil Lord have acutally met with DC about once again returning for The Flash. Right after the original director Rick Famuyiwa stepped away from the project. The duo met with DC about directing the project considering they wrote the films treatment back in 2015. However, they were still attached to Han Solo when this meeting took place. So it’s unknown if they could return to direct The Flash after all…
Han Solo is still expected to meet it’s release date of May 2018