Star Wars Han Solo Spinoff's New Director Is Confirmed As Ron Howard

Ron Howard is the new director of the Han Solo movie. It has been confirmed that the veteran director will take over from Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who left the upcoming Star Wars spinoff earlier this week.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Howard has signed on to finish the movie. Lord and Miller had been shooting since February, and the film was in the final weeks of production. Howard was one of the first names rumored when the shock news of their exit was announced, and THR states than an official Lucasfilm announcement will happen later today.

Howard is no stranger to big Hollywood blockbusters, having made such hits as Apollo 13 and The Da Vinci Code. THR states that the director will meet with the cast and review the footage shot so far before a decision is made about what else needs to be filmed. The current schedule allows for another three weeks of principal photography, with five weeks of reshoots planned for later this summer. The movie is set for a May 2018 release.

Although the statement issued by Lucasfilm yesterday suggested that Lord and Miller's exit was an amicable departure based on "creative differences," several subsequent reports have stated that they were in fact fired due to clashes with Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy and co-writer and Star Wars veteran Lawrence Kasdan. Slashfilm reported that the loose, improvisational directing style they brought to their hit Jump Steet movies was at odds with the more structured approach preferred by Kennedy, and that she didn't think their footage "felt like a Star Wars movie."

The Han Solo film stars Alden Ehrenreich as the iconic space smuggler and Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian, with support from Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke and Thandie Newton. It hits theaters on May 25, 2018.