Phil Lord and Christopher Miller have been fired as the directors of the upcoming Han Solo standalone film currently in production. Although there are still weeks of filming still to go, the film is still slated to open next May.
The production has been shut down in recent days as the directors attempted to fix the problems on set. That apparently did not work out, and the search is on for a replacement director.
The Hollywood Reporter provides details.
Phil Lord and Christopher Miller are no longer directing the Han Solo Star Wars spinoff.
“Phil Lord and Christopher Miller are talented filmmakers who have assembled an incredible cast and crew, but it’s become clear that we had different creative visions on this film, and we’ve decided to part ways. A new director will be announced soon,” Kathleen Kennedy, president of Lucasfilm, said Tuesday in a statement.
“Unfortunately, our vision and process weren’t aligned with our partners on this project,” a statement from Lord and Miller read. “We normally aren’t fans of the phrase ‘creative differences’ but for once this cliché is true. We are really proud of the amazing and world-class work of our cast and crew.”
Lord and Miller, helmers of The Lego Movie and 21 Jump Street and its sequel 22 Jump Street, signed on to direct the Star Wars stand-alone in July 2015. The film features Alden Ehrenreich as Han Solo, while Emilia Clarke, Woody Harrelson and Donald Glover also star.
A second report from The Hollywood Reporter details the friction on the set which led to the firing.
Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that the style and vision of Lord and Miller clashed with that of Lawrence Kasdan, the legendary screenwriter behind the classics Empire Strikes Back and Raiders of the Lost Ark, who also wrote, with his son, Jon Kasdan, the script for the Han Solo stand-alone set (for now) to be released in 2018.
Lord and Miller (21 Jump Street, The Lego Movie) have a comedic sensibility and improvisational style while Kasdan favors a strict adherence to the written word — what is on the page is what must be shot.
The creative clash, according to one insider, also came down to differences in understanding the character of Han Solo. “People need to understand that Han Solo is not a comedic personality. He’s sarcastic and selfish,” said that source.
The friction was felt almost immediately when the movie began shooting in February, sources say, but the directors always thought it could be worked through. Kennedy, the producer and head of Lucasfilm, decided to back her lifelong colleague, who shaped much of Solo’s character in Empire and Return of the Jedi and who had a specific tone in mind for the new movie. The duo also didn’t feel they had the support of producer Allison Shearmur, who was acting as Lucasfilm’s representative on the London set.
The Hollywood Reporter is speculating that Ron Howard and Joe Johnston are on the short list to pick up the director’s mantle.