Star Wars Han Solo Spin-Off: Confusion Over Director Role Cleared Up

When Ron Howard took over directing duties on Solo: A Star Wars Story from Phil Lord and Chris Miller last May, it was reported that there was only a couple of weeks of production left on the movie. However, Howard continued to shoot for many more months, leading to speculation about how much of Lord and Miller's footage he was reshooting, and how exactly the different directors would be credited when the film was released.

It was now been confirmed that Howard will take the sole directing credit, while Lord and Miller will be listed as executive producers. The directing duo, who are best known for The Lego Movie and the Jump Street films, were asked about the issue at the GLAS Animation Festival in California. "We were really proud of the many contributions we made to that film," Miller said, via Variety. "In light of the creative differences, we elected to take an executive producer credit."

When Lord and Miller first left the production of Solo, they issued a statement suggesting that it was an amicable departure based on "creative differences." However, a subsequent story in The Hollywood Reporter revealed that it had been a troubled production until that point, with the directors' background in improvisational comedy at odds with the control exerted by Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy and veteran Star Wars screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan.

Apollo 13 and Da Vinci Code director Howard was hired the following week. Kennedy recently spoke about the decision to change directors. "I think these guys are hilarious, but they come from a background of animation and sketch comedy," she said. "When you are making these movies you can do that and there's plenty of room for improvisation, we do that all the time. But it has to be inside of a highly structured process or you can't get the work done and you can't move the armies of people to anticipate and have things ready. So, it literally came down to process. Just getting it done."

Solo: A Star Wars Story stars Alden Ehrenreich as Han Solo and Joonas Suotamo as Chewbacca. Woody Harrelson, Donald Glover, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and Emilia Clarke also star. It hits theaters on May 25, 2018. The first trailer was released last month, and you can also check out a full Solo trailer breakdown here.

In related news, it was announced last month the Jungle Book director Jon Favreau will direct a new live-action Star Wars TV show. The series is set to premiere of Disney's streaming platform, which launches next year. This is in addition to the two new Star Wars movie series in the work, one from Last Jedi director Rian Johnson, the other overseen by Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.