The 'Han Solo' Debacle

Well, folks, it looks like we have another Ant-Man situation on our hands and this time, it just so happens to come from the biggest franchise in pop culture history; Star Wars. It’s recently been announced that directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who have been working on a Star Wars spin-off film based around the series’ iconic character Han Solo, have departed the project due to creative differences with Lucasfilm, producer Kathleen Kennedy, and co-writer Lawrence Kasdan. Basically, it’s been reported that Lord and Miller’s comedic sensibilities as directors did not gel well with the overall tone that Kennedy and Kasdan were going for with the upcoming film, which is still set to come out in May 2018. And this situation is, overall, rather fascinating because the film has already been in production for a few months at this point. However, it’s also been reported that this creative clash has been going on since Day 1 and that the production had recently gone on a brief hiatus to review everything that’s been filmed so far. So, yeah, this is quite a controversial situation that we have here today. Already, there’s been quite a lot of uncertainty over this upcoming film given that it’s a new take on arguably the most popular character in the Star Wars franchise. And if that wasn’t enough, this will be the first time where Han Solo isn’t played by Harrison Ford; instead, Alden Ehrenreich will take on the role of the beloved smuggler. However, when Lord and Miller were brought on to direct, I think that some of this uncertainty was dialed back given their track record with films that didn’t seem like they’d amount to much; films like Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, 21 and 22 Jump Street, and The LEGO Movie. But now, with this news of their departure, it seems like that uncertainty has once again returned.

However, incidents like this are nothing new. As I noted in the intro, a similar situation happened with another Disney-owned franchise, Marvel, in 2014 when Edgar Wright left Ant-Man due to creative differences with Marvel Studios’ now disbanded Creative Committee. Despite many on the internet speculating that it would end up being Marvel’s first misfire, Ant-Man ended up proving most of its critics wrong when it was finally released in 2015 after being in development for almost a decade. Heck, this isn’t even the first time that something like this has happened to a Star Wars film. As we all know, last year’s spin-off Rogue One had to go through re-shoots to rework parts of the story, specifically the ending. And while the film did ultimately manage to do well with critics and audiences, this ‘reshoot’ situation was well-documented online prior to its release… and by that, I mean that there were TONS of articles published that wondered if it was going to be a mess before anyone ever even saw the damn film. You see, that’s sort of the thing when it comes to how the internet reacts to reports like this about how a film is going through re-shoots or a change in directors. Most of the time, the internet prematurely assumes that this means that the film is going to be a disastrous mess. And yet, this isn’t a rare thing in big-budget blockbusters of this nature. Some of the most successful films of all-time have gone through some truly troubling production issues and yet have ended up being solid successes at the end of the day. In fact, you know what film managed to overcome its numerous production issues to become one of the most beloved films of all-time? Oh, I don’t know, a little film called STAR WARS?! Yes, even the original Star Wars film from 1977 went through a rather hellish production… and look how that turned out! We wouldn’t even be here today if it didn’t end up being the landmark that it was.

But, honestly, here’s the thing about this whole situation that I’m the most pissed off about, and it doesn’t have anything to do with the film itself. Instead, it’s the backlash that producer Kathleen Kennedy has been getting online because of her role in Lord and Miller’s departure (or, to put it more bluntly, firing). In other words, it’s that old debate about producers asserting control over the films that they make at the expense of the directors that they’ve hired. And this has gone as far to the point where I’ve seen several articles that have posed the question of whether Lucasfilm should appoint new leadership, given that Kennedy’s currently the head of the studio after she took over for George Lucas in 2012. But here’s where I call major bulls*** on that. First off, let’s not forget that Lawrence Kasdan also clashed with Lord and Miller’s methods; I don’t see him getting thrown under the bus as much as Kennedy has. Also, going back to Marvel and Ant-Man for a second, I sure as hell don’t recall seeing any articles from 2014 that suggested that Kevin Feige should be replaced as head of Marvel Studios after the Edgar Wright incident. And, yes, I know that this was mainly the fault of Marvel’s Creative Committee but that’s not my point. Basically, what I’m trying to say here is that it’s just sad to witness what Kennedy is going through right now. This woman has been in the film industry for a long time and has produced several classics over the years, including several Steven Spielberg films like E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial and Jurassic Park. Since she became the head of Lucasfilm, she’s had a big part in the revival of the Star Wars film franchise and, so far, things have turned out quite well for it, as both The Force Awakens and Rogue One have each grossed over $1 billion worldwide. And yet… this latest directorial-related incident has suddenly made her public enemy number 1. It’s a damn shame.  

Thankfully, though, they’ve already found a replacement director. It’s just been announced that the legendary Ron Howard will be stepping in to direct the new film, and overall, I support this hiring; sure, some will argue that some of Howard’s more recent films haven’t been very good, but that shouldn’t even remotely detract from the great films that he has made in the past, like Apollo 13 and Rush. Hell, I can even do a whole different editorial on how the internet tends to judge filmmakers more for their misfires than their successes. Coincidentally enough, the idea for that editorial stemmed from another Star Wars-related debacle. This past weekend saw the release of The Book of Henry, directed by Colin Trevorrow, who will be directing Episode IX in 2019… and, to be perfectly blunt, Book of Henry did not do well with critics. Thus, several articles popped up online posing the question of whether Trevorrow was still a good choice to direct the film, something that’s persisted since he was first hired due to the generally polarizing reception towards 2015’s Jurassic World and despite the critical acclaim of his directorial debut, 2012’s Safety Not Guaranteed… but that’s another story, back to Han Solo. Bottom line, I’m still very much looking forward to this film and I do think that Ron Howard is a nice choice for director. And because this crisis was dealt with in a timely manner, it seems like the film won’t be pushed back to December as was feared when Lord and Miller’s departure was first announced. Yes, it’s sad that this happened to Phil Lord and Chris Miller, but I’m sure that they’ll recover from this the same way that Edgar Wright recovered from the whole Ant-Man situation with next weekend’s big release, Baby Driver. Meanwhile, it’s a shame that Ron Howard is now going through the same scenario that Peyton Reed went through when he had to step in for Wright on Ant-Man. Yeah, I know that it currently seems like the odds are very much against this upcoming Star Wars film but, to quote the film’s title character himself from The Empire Strike Back, “Never tell me the odds!” Given Disney and Lucasfilm’s excellent track record so far with these new Star Wars films, this new film could indeed work despite this scandalous turn of events.