Well, this is certainly shocking.
Deadline is reporting tonight that the Han Solo spinoff, which is well into production and set to hit theatres next May, has lost its directors. In a statement released by Lucasfilm, president Kathleen Kennedy says that Phil Lord and Chris Miller have parted ways with the project, due to 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,” said Kathleen Kennedy, president of Lucasfilm.
The directors echoed those sentiments as well, saying that their vision just didn’t align with what the studio had in mind.
“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,” stated Phil Lord and Christopher Miller.
To see the filmmakers leave this far into the production process is certainly troubling and though “creative differences” is cited as the reason for the departure, it’s hard to believe that. Not many directors get this far into the film only to then depart because they weren’t seeing eye to eye with the suits. It has happened before, but it’s rare and on a project like this, it’s absolutely shocking to see.
Furthermore, from what we understand, there were only three weeks left to go in principal photography. That’s not very long, so the differences must have been pretty drastic if they forced the directors to walk so late in the game. Like we said above, we suspect that there’s more going on behind the scenes here and already, some speculation and negative buzz is starting to build around the project.
What this means for Han Solo‘s release date is hard to say, though as far as we know, it’s still on course to arrive on May 25th, 2018. We imagine that Lucasfilm will have a new director ready to go very soon as well, so don’t expect any delays. Still, this is pretty upsetting to hear, as everyone was excited to see what Lord and Miller would bring to the Star Wars universe.
As always, we’ll keep you posted once the studio names a replacement, but in the meantime, tell us, who would you like to see direct the project? Sound off in the usual place!