Following the departure of directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller earlier this week over the dreaded “creative differences”, the Star Wars Han Solo spinoff was suddenly scrambling to find a replacement director. To get production back on track, they’ve settled on a reliable veteran: Ron Howard.
The selection of Howard won’t fill many Star Wars fans with much excitement. In contrast to the exuberant, exciting duo of Lord & Miller, Howard is a safe choice for the gig, which might please producers but likely won’t lead to a groundbreaking film. Howard is no hack, of course, but his recent output has consisted of competent, watchable movies that are no more than that.
It could lead to a worrying trend. Lord and Miller’s departure was said to be because their vision didn’t fit the Star Wars mould Disney wanted, which implies that the studio is content to have each release follow a similar structure and become a homogenous glut with very little room for creativity. That might not worry them, since these films are bound to make huge box office profits whether they are good or not.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect now comes from the remaining production days. Will Howard keep on Lord & Miller’s crew, such as cinematographer Bradford Young (Arrival)? Also, three and a half weeks of shooting are still needed, but what if Howard thinks that existing footage needs to be retooled to fit his new vision of the film?
With a large ensemble cast of actors, scheduling could become an issue, especially with the release of the film already less than a year away. According to THR, Howard will reportedly meet with the actors “to soothe a rattled set and will pore over a rough edit to see what the project has and still needs”.
Here’s hoping that we get the Howard that perhaps hit his peak when he directed Rush, rather than the version that feels like he’s been phoning it in for a while. Though considering his late arrival to the project, that seems unlikely.
We’ll find out whether the firing of Lord & Miller and the hiring of Howard was a mistake when the Han Solo spinoff arrives in cinemas May 25, 2018.
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