More Thoughts on the Han Solo Director Situation

This article is basically a continuation of yesterday’s wild speculation article which you can read here. As information and speculation continues to trickle out about the behind the scenes drama of the still untitled Han Solo movie, there are a few more things that need to be mentioned that we simply didn’t have time for yesterday.

First and foremost, It can not be overstated as to how big of a deal this whole thing actually is. The situation we’re watching unfold is more or less unprecedented. While we’ve seen directors leave projects before (sometimes fired, sometimes of their own volition) it’s never been this late into the production, and neve on a movie or a franchise on the level of Star Wars. There have been a few comparisons that have been cropping up again and again that I do want to take a moment to address here.

Zack Snyder and Justice League: For those who don’t know, director Zack Snyder has stepped away from the upcoming Justice League movie to deal with family tragedy. Joss Whedon has been brought on to see the movie through to completion and make sure that it will still hit its targeted release date in November. While Snyder’s departure is late in the production of the movie, there has been no indication that Warner Bros. or DC had been unhappy or worried about his work on Justice League at all. Whedon has not been brought on board to “fix” the movie but instead he will simply be helping to guide the movie through the rest of the process, overseeing reshoots and final editing of the movie. While I’m sure when we see the movie in November there will be hints of Whedon’s style peeking through here and there, the movie is still ultimately a Snyder project. Snyder’s original vision for the movie will probably be what we eventually see, more or less intact.

Edgar Wright and Ant-man: When director Edgar Wright first started working on Ant-Man the movie was not supposed to be part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That’s because it didn’t exist yet. Wright first started working with Marvel on the Ant-Man movie in 2006, two years before Iron Man was released to kick of the MCU. Ant-Man, under Edgar Wright was supposed to be its own thing, but unfortunately by the time that filming was ready to begin in 2014, all Marvel movies needed to exist in the same universe, thanks to the unprecedented success of The Avengers and any movie that featured one or more of the Avengers. This meant that not only did Ant-Man need to tie into the other movies in some way, it also needed to have a look and feel that was consistent with the movies it would now be sharing a universe with. Ultimately Wright left the project because an MCU version of Ant-Man wasn’t what he had signed up for. It’s unfortunate, but the simple fact of the matter is that the landscape of movies, especially superhero movies, especially Marvel movies, had changed so dramatically between 2006 and 2014 that Marvel and Wright could no longer see eye to eye on how best to move forward with the project. It’s the cliche reason, but this is a case were “creative differences” truly was the reason a director left the project. In the end we got a movie where you can still see Wright’s effect on the screenplay (Wright was still given a writing credit on the final film) but the movie ultimately is one that fits in with the rest of the MCU nicely.

Richard Donner and Superman II: Director Richard Donner was supposed to direct both the original Superman and the sequel Superman II. Originally both movies were in production simultaneously but to ensure that Superman be completed in time for a Christmas release, production on the second movie was temporarily halted. To this day, it is unclear exactly why Donner never returned to complete the second Superman movie. According to the producers, Donner was invited back but refused to return to the movie as long as Pierre Spengler was the producer on the film. However according to Donner himself, he was never invited back to work on the franchise and only found out through a telegram telling him that his services were no longer needed. Whatever the case may be a new director, Richard Lester was brought on board to finish filming the movie although large swaths of the movie had already been filmed during production of the original Superman. It’s been stated that several scenes were reshot to ensure that Lester would have directed over 50% of the final footage in the movie meaning that he would get soul director’s credit.

Which brings us back to Star Wars. Each of the three examples has come up time and again when trying to figure out what comes next for the Han Solo movie. Since the publication of our article yesterday it’s been announced that Ron Howard has been hired to finish directing the movie to ensure that it will still be released in May next year. And while each of these three examples listed above is similar to what’s happening now with Han Solo, there are a few important things that are not being addressed.

While this movie is facing similar problems to what Ant-Man was dealing with, namely a director/directors with a unique vision that didn’t conform to the universe it was living in as a whole, Wright never actually filmed anything for Ant-Man. His ideas and story we’re used, but that movie was directed, without question by Peyton Reed. The same can’t be said for the Han Solo Movie. Reports suggest that Lord and Miller may have shot up to 95% of the footage needed for the movie. While yes, there will be reshoots later this year (there always are for big budget movies like this one) it doesn’t seem likely that Howard has enough time to dump the bulk of Lord and Miller’s work. It seems like they will need to have some kind of credit on the final product, though we’re not clear what that will be.

At the same time though, while most of the movie is already shot, this isn't’ a situation like Justice League where Howard’s just stepping in to guide an already all but completed movie through the final stretch. Reports are that Kathleen Kennedy and Lucasfilm haven’t been happy with Lord and Miller or the direction of the Han Solo movie for quite some time now, so with less than a year to go, we still might be expecting major fixes that need to be made to try and bring the movie into line with the rest of the Star wars universe.

Again, we are dealing with a fraction of the information we actually need in order to have any real substantial discussion about what this means for a movie. This is a movie where we’ve seen no footage, haven’t heard about the plot, or even know what the official title of the movie is yet. But while there are examples that may be similar to what’s happening now, it’s still important to remember that this situation is a director shakeup the likes of which we’ve never seen before. And if these Expanded Cinematic Universes are to continue, this is a situation that may very well set president. So it’s important to pay attention.

That’s all for now, but I’m sure there will likely be another article later and information continues to leak out and an incredibly slow pace over the next several days.