Phil Lord and Christopher Miller out
Lucasfilm has been working since February on a new Star Wars film focusing on the life of Han Solo. For all the Star Wars fans out there I'm sure you have a couple of vivid memories of Han Solo's role in the storyline and overall feel of the movies, adding a sort of sinister, the rebel with a golden heart feel to the movies. Well, for all of you who were expecting the new movie to have the added feel of these two directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, tough luck as the directors are out of the movie.
The directors who are well known for their successes in movies such as Cloudy with A Chance of Meatballs, The Lego Movie and 21 Jump Street seem not to have been the right fit for the Lucasfilm franchise as they left the project mid-way.
They had already found a great cast for the movie as can be seen in the main image of the article. Actors including Alden Ehrenreich stepping in for Harrison Ford as a young Han Solo and Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian, plus "Game of Thrones" star Emilia Clarke, Woody Harrelson and "Fleabag" star Phoebe Waller-Bridge. The movie is scheduled to be released on May 25th, 2018.
Director's statement
The two directors released a press conference saying "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."
The announcement of their departure from the project came on the official Star Wars website.
Kathleen Kennedy the president of Lucasfilm and a producer on the movie said the duo were talented filmmakers and had assembled an incredible cast and crew, but had different creative visions for the film. She also added that a new director for the still untitled film will be announced soon.
Lawrence Kasdan, a screenwriter, director, and producer has a history with Lucasfilm having worked on a couple of them including The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Star Wars The Last Jedi set to be released December 15th, 2017 and Han Solo: A Star Wars Story which he co-wrote with his son and is said to have fundamentally disagreed with the depiction of Han Solo by Lord and Miller.
A glimpse into Lucasfilm history with directors
Irvin Kershner, the director of The Empire Strikes Back was said to have been given a lot of space by George Lucas founder of Lucasfilm who has respect for him as he had once judged a student film contest which Lucas won. Lucas only gave his input when the director took so long to finish the project and ran into money troubles.
After this experience, Lucas was more hands on and ensured that any outside director had to deliver the creative vision in the script on time - and preferably under budget. Richard Marquand experienced this, as he worked on Revenge of the Jedi amid mostly daily visits from Lucas. Lucas took over, changed the name to Return of the Jedi, and did multiple edits and reshoots.
Rogue One British director Gareth Edwards is also reported to have had similar experiences as his vision did not meet Lucasfilm's expectations and they reportedly paid writer-director Tony Gilroy $5 million to lead the rewriting, reshooting and re-edits.
One director who seems to be in the good graces of Lucasfilm is The Last Jedi's director Rian Johnson as he has finished with no re-shoots - at least for now.
The preview of the movie is also out and looks interesting. He also recently said he changed a plot point at the request of Colin Trevorrow, his successor at the helm of Star Wars Episode IX
Star Wars has been a part of many people's lives as they grew up watching it and marvelling at the futuristic displays of George Lucas, and I'm sure we're all looking forward to December to see what Lucasfilm has in store for us, while patiently waiting for all their future instalments.
