Hey folks, Harry here... HAN SOLO faces something scarier than Carbonite... The rudder has come off the film, as Christopher Miller and Phil Lord have left the project over creative differences. The story was broke over on The Hollywood Reporter where they had these quotes from the parties involved:
"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," said Kathleen Kennedy, president of Lucasfilm in a statement.
"Unfortunately, our vision and process weren’t aligned with our partners on this project. 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," said a statement from Phil Lord and Christopher Miller.
The untitled HAN SOLO movie, suspected to be called SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY, began shooting on February 20th at Pinewood Studios. And still had many weeks of shooting to go, but what this means for the film - we don't know. Over at Hollywood Reporter, they're making this out to be somewhat normal, but every mention they have of other productions losing their directors was before the start of Physical Production. This is in the very odd realm of film history - and it will be quite curious to see who they get to shoot.
I've always felt Miller & Lord were an odd Tonal choice for this - at least from the standpoint of what they've done prior, but directors often handle tone shifts well. The oddest part has got to be for all the creative partners working on the film, the actors, artists and crew that have been working with Lord & Miller throughout the process.
These sorts of things have happened on the biggest films in film history... Like WIZARD OF OZ (Victor Fleming got the credit, but George Cukor, Mervyn LeRoy, Norman Taurog & King Vidor were all a part of it) and GONE WITH THE WIND (jettisoned George Cukor for Victor Fleming). So it doesn't mean the movie will suck, only that a very difficult decision was reached and we hope for the best to come of it.
Keep it cool,
Harry
