One of the more surprising announcements to come in the wake of Disney’s purchase of Lucasfilm and kickstarting of the ‘Star Wars’ machinery was that the directing duo of Phil Lord and Chris Miller would be helming a spinoff film chronicling the adventures of a young Han Solo. Though undeniably gifted filmmakers, the two (best known for ’21 Jump Street’ and ‘The Lego Movie’) always seemed an odd choice for a ‘Star Wars’ film. Unfortunately, they never got a chance to prove the naysayers wrong, as they were ultimately ousted from the project and replaced with Ron Howard.
At a Vulture Festival panel celebrating Lord and Miller’s cult classic MTV series ‘Clone High’, the subject of their firing from ‘Solo’ came up. This event marks the first time the two have addressed the matter publicly. Of the situation, Lord had this to say:
“The experience of shooting the movie was wonderful. I think in terms of us leaving the project, I think everybody went in with really good intentions and our approach to making the movie was different than theirs. That was a really big gap to bridge, and it proved to be too big. Sometimes people break up, and it’s really sad, and it’s really disappointing, but it happens and we learned a lot from our collaborators and we’re better filmmakers for it. We’re really proud of the work we did on the movie and we wish everybody the best.”
Miller was quick to agree with his filmmaking partner, and clarified the duo’s plans for the immediate future:
“As Phil said, we had such a great relationship with cast and crew, we were really rooting for them. After we took a much needed vacation, we got back into it and now we’re writing and producing a sequel to ‘The Lego Movie’ and producing a Miles Morales animated ‘Spider-Man’.”
Would you have liked to see Lord and Miller’s version of ‘Solo’, or do you think Ron Howard is a better fit for a ‘Star Wars’ project? Let us know in the comments and be sure to check back with ScienceFiction.com for more on ‘Solo’ as it becomes available!
‘Solo : A Star Wars Story’ is currently scheduled for release on May 25, 2018. The film is being completed by director Ron Howard and stars Alden Ehrenreich, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Donald Glover, Thandie Newton, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and Joonas Suotamo.
