Ron Howard to Direct Han Solo Film

[Truth66]

A couple of days ago there was an article in the local paper about Disney letting the two Directors of the film go.

http://www.chroniclejournal.com/ente...9231ca7d3.html

Then today on the Star Wars site it indicates that Ron Howard is taking over:

http://www.starwars.com/news/ron-how...mc%7C946759614

I laughed because I had just finished watching the Special Features disc of The DaVinci Code yesterday.

What are people's thoughts about this?

[Looney]

Well my thoughts are that this is a bad move. I love Ron Howard for things like Arrested Development, Night Shift, Backdraft, Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, and many others. What I don't like about Ron Howard is the example you gave, The DaVinci Code. I am less excited about this movie, but I really didn't have high hopes for a Han Solo prequel.

I do think it is a weird coincidence that he would be Directing a movie about the origins of a character created by a man he co-starred with in a movie Directed by the man who originally wrote the character that the origin story of this character stems from. LMAO

Ron Howard and Harrison Ford starred in George Lucas' American Graffiti
George Lucas made Harrison Ford famous by making him Han Solo.
40 years later Ron Howard is Directing a movie about the origins of Han Solo.
The Wheel Turns?

[Ubik]

Ron Howard!?! This is going to be awful.

On balance, I suppose it depends on the script.

[Jonas]

The directors were the only thing that had me interested in this movie. It's a real shame, and I feel very sorry for them.

[Analeba]

It's a really bad idea to make this film, I didn't really like the new films of Star Wars and can't imagine what will be here. Well, it's like in a slot game, you don't know until the end

[Looney]

I have enjoyed the newer Star Wars movies, but I admit they are not perfect. I also admit that I am less than thrilled about this one. It just seems like a story they should have left alone. I will see it and hopefully I will like it, but I just think they could have come up with something better and not as risky. I mean honestly, messing with the origins of one of cinema's most favorite scoundrels is a very risky proposition when it comes to fans loving or hating what you've done.

[Ubik]

I have enjoyed the newer Star Wars movies, but I admit they are not perfect. I also admit that I am less than thrilled about this one. It just seems like a story they should have left alone. I will see it and hopefully I will like it, but I just think they could have come up with something better and not as risky. I mean honestly, messing with the origins of one of cinema's most favorite scoundrels is a very risky proposition when it comes to fans loving or hating what you've done.

Rogue One, I really enjoyed, but I felt like there was a more interesting film in there somewhere that had been cut to shred and changed quite a lot following re-shoots. I'd really love to see the original cut that didn't test well. I have a feeling it was perhaps a tad more gritty. That said, Rogue One is by far my fav of the new SW films. I liked the characters.

Also, for good new SW, the best thing to come out of the Disney stable has been Star Wars: Rebels, the animated series. Very good long form storytelling. Great show.

[Truth66]

I also agree that Rogue One was really done well.

I thought that it was strange that the Bluray release didn't include any of those deleted scenes on the Special Features disc. My buddy and I agreed that there was probably so many (with the re-shoots) that it could probably have filled a third disc.

[Ubik]

I also agree that Rogue One was really done well.

I thought that it was strange that the Bluray release didn't include any of those deleted scenes on the Special Features disc. My buddy and I agreed that there was probably so many (with the re-shoots) that it could probably have filled a third disc.

For sure. Would love to see the original cut. Although chances of that are very low.

[sense8ional]

Most of the movie is filmed so it doesn't matter much who replaced the directors. They just wanted someone that would stick close to the script, which the previous directors didn't, so that they course correct and salvage the film (according to the screewriter's/producers' vision) before it's too late. Howard won't have the opportunity to express his vision for the film due to how late he joined.

It will be fun seeing if all three are going to receive credit, or what.

[Ubik]

Most of the movie is filmed so it doesn't matter much who replaced the directors. They just wanted someone that would stick close to the script, which the previous directors didn't, so that they course correct and salvage the film (according to the screewriter's/producers' vision) before it's too late. Howard won't have the opportunity to express his vision for the film due to how late he joined.

It will be fun seeing if all three are going to receive credit, or what.

Disney do seem to be playing it very safe with their SW films. I can understand it, but sometimes you can get amazing results if you let people express their vision. They are tending towards meddling a lot, and sometimes I wonder if this 'film by committee' approach is healthy as far as making valid art is concerned. I found The Force Awakens ‘safe’ to the point of it being very dull. On first viewing I was just relieved it wasn’t the prequels and loved it. On second viewing I realised what a dull unadventurous film it was.

I am interested to see the next film proper in the series, as I am hoping it can breathe a bit more and be it's own thing, as opposed to a homage to the original trilogy.

[sense8ional]

You mean Lucasfilm, not Disney, which is the parent company, as they have let Lucasfilm do as they please.

Yeah, I agree about Episode 7, the best thing I can say about it is that it's watchable enough, and not as aggressively bad as the prequels.

Episode 8's writer & director Rian Johnson has said on twitter the film is very much his own take rather than what he was ordered to do: https://twitter.com/rianjohnson/stat...24716260540416

I had as much creative control on TLJ as I've ever had on any of my own movies.

From what has been said the original directors of "Han Solo" were just a bad fit for blockbuster filmmaking, not making timely decisions, shooting a fraction of the angles a big movie usually shoots, relying too heavily on improvisation, etc: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hea...r-exit-1016619

Matters had already reached a boiling point in mid-June when Phil Lord and Chris Miller, co-directors of the still-untitled young Han Solo movie, were in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon but didn’t start shooting until 1 p.m. That day the two used only three different setups — that is, three variations on camera placement — as opposed to the 12 to 15 that Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy had expected, according to sources with knowledge of the situation. Not only was the going slow, but the few angles that had been shot did not provide a wealth of options to use in editing the movie.

Some insiders say that while the talent of Lord and Miller is undeniable, nothing in their background prepared them for a movie of this size and scope. These sources say they relied too heavily on the improvisational style that served them so well in live-action comedy and animation but does not work on a set with hundreds of crewmembers waiting for direction.

“You have to make decisions much earlier than what they’re used to,” one of these sources say. “I don’t know if it’s because there were two of them but they were not decisive.” Production department heads began to complain. While the pair appeared to listen when told of festering problems, this person says their approach did not change.

Then there's also the screenwriter of the film who was displeased his script was put to the side in favor of improvisation on the set.

Kasdan is said also to have been unhappy with the limited shots and displeased that Lord and Miller were calling out lines for the actors to try from behind the monitor rather than sticking with the script that he had written in collaboration with his son. (Lord and Miller had input on the script before shooting began.) “As a writer, producer and part of Star Wars world, you get on a plane when that happens,” says a person with knowledge of the situation.

Of course, Lord and Miller, see things differently. They defend themselves that they shot few angles because they weren't given enough time, that they work closely with the actors for the improvisation, and lastly that they weren't allowed any creative input.

Whether they are right or not to have strayed away from the script, whether their film would have ended up being better or worse in the end, or whether it would have more artistic merit, etc. it does become clear they wanted to shoot using a style that would make production difficult for crew and producers. Of course difficult doesn't mean the end result would be bad.. it might have been very good indeed.

Aside of firing the directors, in May Lucasfilm also replaced the editor and hired an acting coach for the lead actor that THR comments: "Hiring a coach is not unusual; hiring one that late in production is."

[sense8ional]

Due to scheduling issues to attend the reshoots under the new director, Michael Kenneth Williams's role is being cut from the film.

https://deadline.com/2017/08/michael...ts-1202153750/

“I felt great about what I created with the directors that I worked with,” said Williams, who was cast in the Han Solo origin story by original helming duo Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who exited in June. “It is what it is.”

“When Ron Howard got hired to finish out the film, there were some reshoot issues that needed to be done in regards to my character, in order for it to match the new direction which the producers wanted Ron to carry the film in,” Williams told Deadline. “And that would have required me on a plane a month ago to London, to Pinewood, to do reshoots. But I’m here, on location in Africa. It’s scheduling. I’m not going to be back on the market until the end of November after [his SundanceTV series] Hap and Leonard, and for them to wait that long for me, that would have pushed back the release date, which I believe is in May 2018. They wanted me now; I couldn’t go. So they had to clip-clip-clip.”

Plot and character details had been kept under wraps, but Williams said he played a half-human, half-animal in the film and that “we created a kick-ass character, in my opinion. I’m proud of it.”

[Ubik]

Due to scheduling issues to attend the reshoots under the new director, Michael Kenneth Williams's role is being cut from the film.

https://deadline.com/2017/08/michael...ts-1202153750/

Damn, that kinda sucks. Seems messy to me. I guess the proof will be in the finished product. Rogue One seemed to turn out well despite all the re-shoots, I guess there's a clear vision for the film and it wasn't being achieved. I still find it all a 'bit too safe' and wish they'd let directors put their own stamp on SW.

[sense8ional]

Now Episode 9 lost its director in a "mutual decision" because of creative differences.

http://variety.com/2017/film/news/co...ix-1202548088/

Trevorrow's latest film, The Book of Henry, was very poorly reviewed (22% RT) so I wouldn't be surprised if Lucasfilm just didn't want him anymore.

Perhaps Rian Johnson can film this too, since he is happy with the creative control he had over Episode 8, as I quoted him earlier in the thread: "I had as much creative control on TLJ as I've ever had on any of my own movies.", and he is a fan favorite for many because to his past films. At one point he was going to write the treatment for Episode 9 anyway (although that changed eventually), so it would seem he would have an idea about where to take the story after 8.

Episode 9 was said to be starting filming in early 2018.