'Star Wars': Han Solo Film Loses Directors

[Beantownbrown]

Man, this is surprising. They're in the middle of filming and now they lose the directors.

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller are no longer directing the Han Solo Star Wars spin-off.

"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 in a statement.

"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," said a statement from Phil Lord and Christopher Miller.

Lord and Miller, the helmers of The LEGO Movie and 21 Jump Street and its sequel 22 Jump Street, signed on to direct the Star Wars stand-alone in July 2015. The film will star Alden Ehrenreich as Han Solo, while Emilia Clarke, Woody Harrelson and Donald Glover also star.

The film has been shooting in London since February. Sources say there are several weeks left on the shoot (who will be helming those is currently under wraps), with re-shoots scheduled for later in the summer.

The release date of May 25, 2018 remains unchanged.

This isn't the first Star Wars film to face a director issue. On Star Wars: Rogue One, which was helmed by Gareth Edwards, Tony Gilroy was brought in to rewrite and help oversee extensive reshoots for the film.

The issue of "creative differences" has been the cause of several director exits over the past couple years on studio tentpoles. Tim Miller left Fox's sequel Deadpool 2; Rick Famuyiwa left Warner Bros. and DC's The Flash; Michelle MacLaren left Wonder Woman (which was then directed by Patty Jenkins, who had previously exited Thor 2).

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[Thor2014]

ruh-roh shaggy!

[Carabas]

When you do work-for-hire on a big franchise, you should accept that your own personal creative vision isn't the most important thing here.

Also, shouldn't this be on the Star Wars board?

[Flyattractor]

...We got a Star Wars Board?

[Cyke]

When you do work-for-hire on a big franchise, you should accept that your own personal creative vision isn't the most important thing here.

I don't disagree with you, but I've read that it was because they fostered more improv than the Powers That Be were comfortable with (which is also their right, obviously) for such a major film. Considering Lord and Miller's previous works, improv seems to be what they're comfortable with. And so they agreed to the end goal with their bosses but disagreed on how to get there. It seems the personal creative vision part was more about work process -- agreeing that the big franchise was more important, but getting there was the trickier part. That's the nature of the collaborative process.

[Sighphi]

When you do work-for-hire on a big franchise, you should accept that your own personal creative vision isn't the most important thing here.

Also, shouldn't this be on the Star Wars board?

why do you hire people to bring their own creative style then tell them while they are shooting to not do that?

This is exactly what happened with the last film. Rogue One got redone cause it was too dark a war film.

[BeastieRunner]

...We got a Star Wars Board?

Yes! Come play with us.

[Styles]

why do you hire people to bring their own creative style then tell them while they are shooting to not do that?

This is exactly what happened with the last film. Rogue One got redone cause it was too dark a war film.

Co-sign. They knew what they were getting when meeting with them and then hiring them. Well, at least Lord and Miller may go back to The Flash

[Carabas]

This is exactly what happened with the last film. Rogue One got redone cause it was too dark a war film.

They... redid it by making it a lot darker.

[Pinsir]

When you do work-for-hire on a big franchise, you should accept that your own personal creative vision isn't the most important thing here.

Also, shouldn't this be on the Star Wars board?

Couldn't the same reasoning apply to comics though? Their obviously are limits, but even if you look at say, superhero movies, the best films are usually driven by creators with significant control over their work.

[Carabas]

Couldn't the same reasoning apply to comics though? Their obviously are limits, but even if you look at say, superhero movies, the best films are usually driven by creators with significant control over their work.

It varies.

Usually yes, unles your main selling point isn't the characters, but Warren Ellis writing the thing and John Casaday drawing it.

And while the best comics are those where creators get free reign, these comics rarely get published by DC or Marvel.

[LordLeviathan]

They... redid it by making it a lot darker.

Weren't the script writers surprised that they were allowed to pull a metallica debut album?

[Carabas]

Weren't the script writers surprised that they were allowed to pull a metallica debut album?

Pretty much, yeah.

[Sighphi]

They... redid it by making it a lot darker.

What? All the info about the reshoots was to tone it down because it was too dark.

Where are you getting the idea that they turned it more dark?

[Bored at 3:00AM]

What? All the info about the reshoots was to tone it down because it was too dark.

Where are you getting the idea that they turned it more dark?

From what I've read, the reshoots had nothing to do with tone, but with character arcs and pace. In the original cut, the characters were even more thinly-drawn than they were in the theatrical version. The final battle was too long, which necessitated a lot of cuts to keep it from bogging down the movie.

As for whether or not they made the movie darker or lighter, it was a bit of both. Jyn Erso was much less sympathetic in the original cut and the reshoots tried to make her less abrasive. On the other hand, Cassian was given much more depth, by adding his introductory scene where he straight up shoots his own informant in the back in order to protect his info's secrecy, which is way darker than he was originally portrayed. The Darth Vader sequences were last minute additions, and probably the darkest material in the movie. That hallway scene is the closest Star Wars has ever come to being a horror film.