Uh-Oh: ‘Han Solo’ Spinoff Loses Directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller
Well, that was unexpected. Lucasfilm has just announced that Phil Lord and Christopher Miller are no longer at the helm of Star Wars’ Han Solo spinoff movie, due to, you guessed it, that perennial Hollywood scourge: creative differences.
“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,” Lucasfilm chief Kathleen Kennedy said in a statement, per The Hollywood Reporter. Lord and Miller also praised the cast and crew in their own 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.
There’s no way around it: this sucks. Lord and Miller’s movies (which include The Lego Movie, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, and the Jump Streets) are pretty consistently great, and we were stoked to hear they’d be bringing their personal brand of hilarity and charm to the Star Wars universe. And it’s insane timing too, since the movie has been filming in London since January. That’s five months it took for Lord and Miller to realize that their vision for the movie is not what Lucasfilm wants. Isn’t it, like, pretty much done? Was it the script that was the problem? What the heck happened??
So, where is this thing gonna go from here? Joss Whedon is taking over Justice League, J.J. Abrams already did a Star War, and most everyone else is already working on either Episode IX or a Dark Universe movie. Hey, Kathy, maybe the cosmos are telling us something. Maybe it’s time to hire a lady for a change. I hear that Patty Jenkins just made something pretty good.
The Han Solo movie is still on track for a May 25, 2018 release.