Ron Howard has released his own short and sweet Han Solo statement, and the movie’s in good hands
A day after being named as the new director of the untitled Han Solo film, Ron Howard has broken his silence, saying that it’s an “honor” to work on the project. Howard was announced as director of the stand-alone Star Wars film three days after the project’s original directors, The Lego Movie‘s Chris Miller and Phil Lord, were fired by Lucasfilm over creative differences.
In a short series of tweets, Howard said he has been a Star Wars fan since 1977 and expressed his excitement in joining the long-running franchise, while politely acknowledging the work Miller and Lord had done on the film.
I'm beyond grateful to add my voice to the Star Wars Universe after being a fan since 5/25/77.
— Ron Howard (@RealRonHoward) June 22, 2017
I hope to honor the great work already done & help deliver on the promise of a Han Solo film.
— Ron Howard (@RealRonHoward) June 22, 2017
Howard is no stranger to the Star Wars family. He starred in Star Wars creator George Lucas’s 1973 film American Graffiti — alongside Richard Dreyfuss and OG Han Solo himself, Harrison Ford — and has been a close friend of Lucas’s since. Lucas had allegedly told his American Graffiti friends about his plans to create a space epic, which Howard and Dreyfuss joked about on Twitter.
Finally, the world will get to see the twist George told us he always wanted to tell during Grafitti!
— Richard Dreyfuss (@RichardDreyfuss) June 23, 2017
Don't be giving away any secrets, Richard! and on behalf of all of us at #ImagineEntertainment thanks 4 the gr8 work on @ShotsFiredFOX https://t.co/3usBiPMDJf
— Ron Howard (@RealRonHoward) June 23, 2017
On Thursday, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy named Howard as the new director in a statement.
She said, “At Lucasfilm, we believe the highest goal of each film is to delight, carrying forward the spirit of the saga that George Lucas began forty years ago. With that in mind, we’re thrilled to announce that Ron Howard will step in to direct the untitled Han Solo film. We have a wonderful script, an incredible cast and crew, and the absolute commitment to make a great movie. Filming will resume the 10th of July.
Production on the film had recently halted as Lord and Miller and Kennedy worked to resolve their creative differences. Unfortunately, Lord and Miller were let go after the differences resulted in a stalemate; Lucasfilm quickly worked to find a suitable replacement so production wouldn’t be delayed too long. With films of this caliber, reshoots are almost always built into production schedule — all the Star Wars films, most extensively Rogue One, have undergone reshoots — so luckily this production delay won’t set the schedule back too much.
While we may never know all the details about the Han Solo behind-the-scenes drama, we’ll still be able to see the film next May, as Lucasfilm has no plans to change the release date.
