The ‘Han Solo’ spinoff film is in duress after directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were fired from the project this week…
The Star Wars franchise has a Millennium Falcon sized problem on its hands.
On Tuesday, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller — the directors in charge of the upcoming ‘Han Solo’ spinoff project — were fired from the film by Lucasfilm chief Kathleen Kennedy.
According to reports, Lord and Miller, who are best known for their work on ‘The Lego Movie’, were let go after repeated clashes with writer Lawrence Kasdan, who helped shape the character of Han Solo while writing ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ as well as ‘Return of the Jedi’ before returning to the ‘Star Wars’ franchise to pen this new movie alongside his son, Jon Kasdan.
The clash happened in large part because Lord and Miller were more focused on a comedic style of film while Kasdan had a very specific image in mind for the Han Solo movie and the two sides were often at odds.
Ultimately, Kennedy sided with Kasdan, who has been working on the ‘Star Wars’ franchise for more than 30 years.
“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,” Lord and Miller said in a statement.
With production on the ‘Han Solo’ film at a stand still, the studio is currently searching for a new director to take over the project.
Ron Howard — best known for his work on ‘A Beautiful Mind’, ‘Apollo 13’ and ‘The DaVinci Code’ — is on the short list of potential replacements. Joe Johnson, who directed ‘The Rocketeer’ and ‘Jumanji’, is also reportedly one of the directors being eyed by Lucasfilm as a potential replacement for Miller and Lord.
As of now the ‘Han Solo’ film, which stars Alden Ehrenreich, Donald Glover and Emilia Clarke, has been paused for production while the studio searches for a new director. The movie is supposed to open in 2018 but there’s no word if this situation will potentially push back the release date.
H/T: Hollywood Reporter
