Leia: "Dantooine. They're on Dantooine." Narrator: "They weren't."
June 22, 2017 9:13 AM Subscribe
Lord and Miller shot first, but Ron Howard shoots last.
With three weeks of principal photography left, directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller have departed the untitled Han Solo prequel. Creative differences were cited as the reason: Kasdan and Kennedy were reportedly unhappy with the directors' improv-heavy approach and comedic tone.
Today, it was announced that director/actor/narrator Ron Howard will step in to complete the picture. But what comes next?
With three weeks of principal photography left, directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller have departed the untitled Han Solo prequel. Creative differences were cited as the reason: Kasdan and Kennedy were reportedly unhappy with the directors' improv-heavy approach and comedic tone.
Today, it was announced that director/actor/narrator Ron Howard will step in to complete the picture. But what comes next?
I just keep going back to "but they've shot most of the movie!!!"
This is a disaster.
posted by selfnoise at 9:18 AM on June 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
This is a disaster.
posted by selfnoise at 9:18 AM on June 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
Well, there's Han Solo funny and then there's... 21 Jump Street funny. You know?
posted by tobascodagama at 9:23 AM on June 22, 2017 [9 favorites]
posted by tobascodagama at 9:23 AM on June 22, 2017 [9 favorites]
Ron Howard will keep most of what's been shot but will add his own, better version of the studio-mandated voiceover track from Blade Runner, just to show Harrison Ford how it's fuckin' done.
posted by cortex at 9:24 AM on June 22, 2017 [11 favorites]
posted by cortex at 9:24 AM on June 22, 2017 [11 favorites]
A++ for the post title.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 9:27 AM on June 22, 2017 [27 favorites]
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 9:27 AM on June 22, 2017 [27 favorites]
Who knows what's going on, but when I hear "improv-heavy" I think dark thoughts about Judd Apatow movies full of "hilarious" scenes that go on forevvvvvvarrrrr because the director didn't want to interrupt his bros with a buzzkilling "cut!" when they were on a fuckin' roll.
posted by The Card Cheat at 9:28 AM on June 22, 2017 [16 favorites]
posted by The Card Cheat at 9:28 AM on June 22, 2017 [16 favorites]
I really liked the idea of the anthology approach to Star Wars movies, and it's going to be a shame if Disney ruins it by continually fucking with the directors.
posted by Copronymus at 9:28 AM on June 22, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by Copronymus at 9:28 AM on June 22, 2017 [7 favorites]
Yes it would be a shame if a Han Solo movie were funny.
The Star Wars movies aren't funny, though; they're intense action movies with a few funny bits in them. (Which makes me wonder what Kasdan and Kennedy were thinking when they hired the directors of The Lego Movie in the first place, but anyway.)
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:29 AM on June 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
The Star Wars movies aren't funny, though; they're intense action movies with a few funny bits in them. (Which makes me wonder what Kasdan and Kennedy were thinking when they hired the directors of The Lego Movie in the first place, but anyway.)
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:29 AM on June 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
Yeah, Kasdan may not be 100% reliable, but I'm comfortable going with him in a disagreement with the people who brought us the 21 Jump Street franchise, and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.
Anyway, I don't have my hopes up to high, I think I'm going to be disappointed with anything except maybe them having Donald Glover do an hour of stand-up in Lando's persona.
posted by skewed at 9:33 AM on June 22, 2017 [11 favorites]
Anyway, I don't have my hopes up to high, I think I'm going to be disappointed with anything except maybe them having Donald Glover do an hour of stand-up in Lando's persona.
posted by skewed at 9:33 AM on June 22, 2017 [11 favorites]
Everything is awesome.
posted by sandettie light vessel automatic at 9:35 AM on June 22, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by sandettie light vessel automatic at 9:35 AM on June 22, 2017 [7 favorites]
I just keep going back to "but they've shot most of the movie!!!"
Lord and Miller shot first, as it were.
posted by DiscountDeity at 9:35 AM on June 22, 2017 [7 favorites]
Lord and Miller shot first, as it were.
posted by DiscountDeity at 9:35 AM on June 22, 2017 [7 favorites]
The Star Wars movies aren't funny, though; they're intense action movies with a few funny bits in them. (Which makes me wonder what Kasdan and Kennedy were thinking when they hired the directors of The Lego Movie in the first place, but anyway.)
Han Solo is a lighter character who thrives in those "funny bits." It's not the only approach you could take with the character, but I think it's a valid onePart of an anthology approach should be allowing the movies to be slightly different things. Hiring comedy directors then firing them when they want to do comedy is silly. I've been happy with the new Star Wars movies, so I'll see this and probably like it, but I think there's plenty of room for a young Han Solo movie that's an action comedy rather than an action movie with comedy and firing the directors after you've done most of the filming because they did the thing you should have known they were going to do doesn't feel like a recipe for success.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 9:36 AM on June 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
Han Solo is a lighter character who thrives in those "funny bits." It's not the only approach you could take with the character, but I think it's a valid onePart of an anthology approach should be allowing the movies to be slightly different things. Hiring comedy directors then firing them when they want to do comedy is silly. I've been happy with the new Star Wars movies, so I'll see this and probably like it, but I think there's plenty of room for a young Han Solo movie that's an action comedy rather than an action movie with comedy and firing the directors after you've done most of the filming because they did the thing you should have known they were going to do doesn't feel like a recipe for success.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 9:36 AM on June 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
Ron Solo.
posted by leotrotsky at 9:45 AM on June 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by leotrotsky at 9:45 AM on June 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
Lord and Miller shot first, as it were.
as it were in the first line of the post?
posted by biffa at 9:46 AM on June 22, 2017 [9 favorites]
as it were in the first line of the post?
posted by biffa at 9:46 AM on June 22, 2017 [9 favorites]
as it were in the first line of the post?
D'oh. Scanned the comments but missed it in the post. My bad.
posted by DiscountDeity at 9:47 AM on June 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
D'oh. Scanned the comments but missed it in the post. My bad.
posted by DiscountDeity at 9:47 AM on June 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
Normally, I'm reflexively on the side of the director, but Kennedy has a better track record than 99% of all producers. She is one of the few big budget producers in Hollywood right now who seems to display actual competence.
Still, the Ron Howard thing does not inspire confidence. The choice says, "Here's an old pro who will stabilize the situation and calm the jittery shareholders."
posted by vibrotronica at 9:50 AM on June 22, 2017 [5 favorites]
Still, the Ron Howard thing does not inspire confidence. The choice says, "Here's an old pro who will stabilize the situation and calm the jittery shareholders."
posted by vibrotronica at 9:50 AM on June 22, 2017 [5 favorites]
Yeah, I don't have a problem with this particular studio meddling.
I haven't actually seen the Jump Street movies because, well, why would I? But at some point I did see the closing credits for 22 Jump Street. Even if you haven't seen any of the films, those are pretty funny. Still, I don't really want to see those guys do Han Solo.
Saying you don't think someone is right for a particular story doesn't mean you don't like what they do. It just means you don't think they should do that.
posted by Naberius at 9:55 AM on June 22, 2017 [4 favorites]
I haven't actually seen the Jump Street movies because, well, why would I? But at some point I did see the closing credits for 22 Jump Street. Even if you haven't seen any of the films, those are pretty funny. Still, I don't really want to see those guys do Han Solo.
Saying you don't think someone is right for a particular story doesn't mean you don't like what they do. It just means you don't think they should do that.
posted by Naberius at 9:55 AM on June 22, 2017 [4 favorites]
Ron Howard is the poor man's JJ Abrams. Abrams is the king of movies that are pretty okay, I guess, and Howard is the king of movies like that, only you're on a long plane ride and this one'll do until I fall asleep, I guess.
posted by The Card Cheat at 9:59 AM on June 22, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by The Card Cheat at 9:59 AM on June 22, 2017 [4 favorites]
If Ron Howard is going to direct I wonder if we'll hear about whatever happened to Chuck Cunningham Solo in the unnamed Han Solo prequel.
posted by Rob Rockets at 10:06 AM on June 22, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by Rob Rockets at 10:06 AM on June 22, 2017 [4 favorites]
the people who brought us the 21 Jump Street franchise, and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Bespin with a Chance of Spaceballs
posted by kirkaracha at 10:17 AM on June 22, 2017 [11 favorites]
@bobbyrobertspdx:
posted by Lexica at 10:17 AM on June 22, 2017 [16 favorites]
OK, here's what we do:(You want to click through to see the photo…)
Push to Dec 2018
Glover rewrites/recasts
directs 6wks of reshoots
Oversees post
SCOUNDRELS
A Lando Calrissian Story
posted by Lexica at 10:17 AM on June 22, 2017 [16 favorites]
Ron Howard makes great trailers for terrible films. Maybe he can do something with the footage from another director's film, but In The Heart Of The Sea was such a tepid, excessive, greenscreen stinker that I'd resolved to skip anything he directed in the future.
posted by Catblack at 10:19 AM on June 22, 2017
posted by Catblack at 10:19 AM on June 22, 2017
"here's some money, go make a 'star war.'"
posted by entropicamericana at 10:22 AM on June 22, 2017 [30 favorites]
posted by entropicamericana at 10:22 AM on June 22, 2017 [30 favorites]
I am more intrigued by rumors that St. Whedon (blessed be his name) is doing more than just reshoots since taking over the Justice League movie. Big sets are being built. Let us also hope that dialog is being rewritten.
posted by Ber at 10:23 AM on June 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Ber at 10:23 AM on June 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
It just means you don't think they should do that.
But what is "that"? From what I heard, some folks didn't feel Rogue One was like Star Wars. That it was too dark and too bleak. Not enough light-heartedness and swashbuckling. When I watched it, I was also surprised at how dark it was and also how it seemed to weave in (a little bit) of contemporary terrorism and war into Star Wars. I would say that in total Rogue One seemed more like military science fiction to Star Wars' space opera.
Maybe the replacement of Lord & Miller with Howard is a studio decision due to the mixed reaction of Rogue One. Star Wars seems to be more confined to a certain genre, setting, and set of core characters than say, the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
posted by FJT at 10:32 AM on June 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
But what is "that"? From what I heard, some folks didn't feel Rogue One was like Star Wars. That it was too dark and too bleak. Not enough light-heartedness and swashbuckling. When I watched it, I was also surprised at how dark it was and also how it seemed to weave in (a little bit) of contemporary terrorism and war into Star Wars. I would say that in total Rogue One seemed more like military science fiction to Star Wars' space opera.
Maybe the replacement of Lord & Miller with Howard is a studio decision due to the mixed reaction of Rogue One. Star Wars seems to be more confined to a certain genre, setting, and set of core characters than say, the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
posted by FJT at 10:32 AM on June 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
"There's credits in the Jogan fruit stand"
posted by ZeusHumms at 10:36 AM on June 22, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by ZeusHumms at 10:36 AM on June 22, 2017 [5 favorites]
St. WhedonI dunno, man. Have you SEEN his unshot Wonder Woman script?
posted by uberchet at 10:37 AM on June 22, 2017 [12 favorites]
Opie's cinematic output of late has been uninspired, but this is also the same guy who made Night Shift, Splash, Apollo 13. He's a competent filmmaker, and when he has a good script, he can do wonders. I am cautiously optimistic. My guess is, aside from fx setpieces, they'll reshoot most, if not the whole thing.
Joss Whedon can bite my faux-witty sarcastic rejoinder.
posted by KHAAAN! at 10:38 AM on June 22, 2017 [12 favorites]
Joss Whedon can bite my faux-witty sarcastic rejoinder.
posted by KHAAAN! at 10:38 AM on June 22, 2017 [12 favorites]
posted by KHAAAN! at 1:38 PM
Eponysterical!
posted by Melismata at 10:43 AM on June 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
Eponysterical!
posted by Melismata at 10:43 AM on June 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
Howard's a pro who Lucasfilm has worked with before (Willow) and can be trusted to bring the thing in reasonably within budget and in a releasable state. He's not the most inspired director but he's still 10x better than late period Lucas is.
posted by octothorpe at 10:50 AM on June 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by octothorpe at 10:50 AM on June 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
he's still 10x better than late period Lucas is.
not exactly a high bar, that.
posted by entropicamericana at 10:59 AM on June 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
not exactly a high bar, that.
posted by entropicamericana at 10:59 AM on June 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
Maybe the replacement of Lord & Miller with Howard is a studio decision due to the mixed reaction of Rogue One. Star Wars seems to be more confined to a certain genre, setting, and set of core characters than say, the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Did Rogue One underperform financially? I ask because this is almost opposite to how I feel about it specifically, the Star Wars movies of the last few years, and the MCU, and being a box office flop is at least an excuse I would grudgingly accept for changing directions hard on the Star Wars movies after just one non-core-character attempt (and not one that far off of the main plot).
Maybe it's because I got really into the Extended Universe as a kid, but a lot of what I like about Star Wars is the endless possibilities embodied in things like the Mos Eisley cantina and the rogue's gallery at Jabba's palace. It feels almost inherent in the concept to me that there are billions of other Star Wars stories that we never got in the movies but that are still taking place out there somewhere. I would love to see quiet Ithorian romances or R5-D2 as the Rolling Sheriff of Toshi Station. Meanwhile, while I've enjoyed several MCU movies, they have started to feel kind of same-y to me (admittedly, I've missed a few of the ones that are farther off the Avengers formula).
posted by Copronymus at 11:00 AM on June 22, 2017 [9 favorites]
Did Rogue One underperform financially? I ask because this is almost opposite to how I feel about it specifically, the Star Wars movies of the last few years, and the MCU, and being a box office flop is at least an excuse I would grudgingly accept for changing directions hard on the Star Wars movies after just one non-core-character attempt (and not one that far off of the main plot).
Maybe it's because I got really into the Extended Universe as a kid, but a lot of what I like about Star Wars is the endless possibilities embodied in things like the Mos Eisley cantina and the rogue's gallery at Jabba's palace. It feels almost inherent in the concept to me that there are billions of other Star Wars stories that we never got in the movies but that are still taking place out there somewhere. I would love to see quiet Ithorian romances or R5-D2 as the Rolling Sheriff of Toshi Station. Meanwhile, while I've enjoyed several MCU movies, they have started to feel kind of same-y to me (admittedly, I've missed a few of the ones that are farther off the Avengers formula).
posted by Copronymus at 11:00 AM on June 22, 2017 [9 favorites]
I would have thought that if Ron was going to come in, he would have directed a main trilogy installment so he could tell the story of a wealthy family who lost everything, and the one son who had no choice but to keep them all together.
posted by Muddler at 11:13 AM on June 22, 2017 [14 favorites]
posted by Muddler at 11:13 AM on June 22, 2017 [14 favorites]
Bespin with a Chance of Spaceballs
See, if you wanted those two guys to do Spaceballs 2: The Search for More Money or, like, Lone Starr: A Spaceballs Cash-in, I think that would be a pretty excellent fit.
posted by tobascodagama at 11:36 AM on June 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
See, if you wanted those two guys to do Spaceballs 2: The Search for More Money or, like, Lone Starr: A Spaceballs Cash-in, I think that would be a pretty excellent fit.
posted by tobascodagama at 11:36 AM on June 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is creative, fun, packed with action, and at is fundamentally a father/son story. Seems to me not such a terrible fit against Star Wars.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 11:42 AM on June 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 11:42 AM on June 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
You're missing the most important opportunity to now be in play, people.
Grand Moff Cliff Howard.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 1:25 PM on June 22, 2017 [12 favorites]
Grand Moff Cliff Howard.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 1:25 PM on June 22, 2017 [12 favorites]
Too bad they couldn't land Rob Reiner. That would have been incredible.
posted by Twang at 2:02 PM on June 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Twang at 2:02 PM on June 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
Clint Howard does have some experience with deep-freezing humans, altho not quite up to industry carbonite spec.
posted by FatherDagon at 2:08 PM on June 22, 2017
posted by FatherDagon at 2:08 PM on June 22, 2017
Ron Howard, an old hand? [Googling..] Ron Howard is 63. That freaks me out a little.
posted by mecran01 at 3:54 PM on June 22, 2017
posted by mecran01 at 3:54 PM on June 22, 2017
Ron Howard was in The Music Man. Think about that.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 8:31 PM on June 22, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 8:31 PM on June 22, 2017 [6 favorites]
It's perfectly fine - appropriate even! - for a Han Solo movie to be "action with some comedy"; I don't think full on comedy is right, though.
"Raiders of the Lost Ark" (appropriately enough) is the right level; maybe even "Beverly Hills Cop." You don't want "Old School" or whatever.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:05 PM on June 22, 2017 [4 favorites]
"Raiders of the Lost Ark" (appropriately enough) is the right level; maybe even "Beverly Hills Cop." You don't want "Old School" or whatever.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:05 PM on June 22, 2017 [4 favorites]
Did Rogue One underperform financially?
Rogue One's box office cleared a billion dollars.
posted by azpenguin at 10:10 PM on June 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
Rogue One's box office cleared a billion dollars.
posted by azpenguin at 10:10 PM on June 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
Or, in perspective, only 1/4 of what Disney purchased Lucasfilm for.
posted by radwolf76 at 12:35 AM on June 23, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by radwolf76 at 12:35 AM on June 23, 2017 [1 favorite]
From the earth to the that's no moon.
posted by Ogre Lawless at 2:11 AM on June 23, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Ogre Lawless at 2:11 AM on June 23, 2017 [1 favorite]
Just remembered that Howard was in American Graffiti with Han Solo himself.
posted by octothorpe at 4:00 AM on June 23, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by octothorpe at 4:00 AM on June 23, 2017 [6 favorites]
Ugh, prequels.
Can we just stop doing the "HEY AUDIENCE, NOTICE THIS THING FROM THAT THING YOU LIKE?" and "THAT LITTLE BOY GREW UP TO BE..." thing? Can we just accept that a rich backstory exists to be a backstory, and not a story all its own?
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 6:51 AM on June 23, 2017 [3 favorites]
Can we just stop doing the "HEY AUDIENCE, NOTICE THIS THING FROM THAT THING YOU LIKE?" and "THAT LITTLE BOY GREW UP TO BE..." thing? Can we just accept that a rich backstory exists to be a backstory, and not a story all its own?
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 6:51 AM on June 23, 2017 [3 favorites]
Todd Spangler/Variety: Ron Howard on ‘Star Wars’ Han Solo Movie Directing Gig: ‘I’ve Been a Fan Forever’
posted by ZeusHumms at 12:46 PM on June 23, 2017
posted by ZeusHumms at 12:46 PM on June 23, 2017
Can we just stop doing the "HEY AUDIENCE, NOTICE THIS THING FROM THAT THING YOU LIKE?" and "THAT LITTLE BOY GREW UP TO BE..." thing? Can we just accept that a rich backstory exists to be a backstory, and not a story all its own?
For some of us, no, or there would be no such thing as fanfiction or kids playing Jedi vs. Sith in the backyard after school and coming up with Darth Billy and Jenny Skywalker.
You don't want to watch it? You think the original is sufficient on its own? Cool enough! You do you. Kindly let others people do themselves.
(And I speak as somebody who refuses to acknowledge the existence of any Star Wars movie prior to episode 4…)
posted by Lexica at 4:52 PM on June 23, 2017 [1 favorite]
For some of us, no, or there would be no such thing as fanfiction or kids playing Jedi vs. Sith in the backyard after school and coming up with Darth Billy and Jenny Skywalker.
You don't want to watch it? You think the original is sufficient on its own? Cool enough! You do you. Kindly let others people do themselves.
(And I speak as somebody who refuses to acknowledge the existence of any Star Wars movie prior to episode 4…)
posted by Lexica at 4:52 PM on June 23, 2017 [1 favorite]
I guess we will finally learn the story of Han Solo's arrested development.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 8:50 PM on June 23, 2017
posted by ActingTheGoat at 8:50 PM on June 23, 2017
I suspect that Lord & Miller couldn't suppress their originality sufficiently - - as with Episode VII and Rogue One, Disney wants every Star Wars movie to be a clone of Episode IV. I like to think that they finally balked the morning that Kasdan rolled out another Death Star.
posted by fairmettle at 12:21 AM on June 24, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by fairmettle at 12:21 AM on June 24, 2017 [1 favorite]
So we're really gonna reflexively side with the folks who gave us 21 Jump Street over the guy who wrote Empire, Raiders, Return of the Jedi, and The Force Awakens and the woman who's Stephen Fucking Spielberg's go-to producer?
I mean, call me crazy, but I'm pretty sure Kasdan knows how to write Han Solo.
posted by tobascodagama at 2:40 PM on June 25, 2017 [3 favorites]
I mean, call me crazy, but I'm pretty sure Kasdan knows how to write Han Solo.
posted by tobascodagama at 2:40 PM on June 25, 2017 [3 favorites]
I mean, call me crazy, but I'm pretty sure Kasdan knows how to write Han Solo.
I know.
posted by radwolf76 at 8:12 PM on June 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
I know.
posted by radwolf76 at 8:12 PM on June 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
just remember that 'cause i'll be back
posted by entropicamericana at 7:40 AM on June 26, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by entropicamericana at 7:40 AM on June 26, 2017 [1 favorite]
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This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
Yes it would be a shame if a Han Solo movie were funny.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 9:17 AM on June 22, 2017 [29 favorites]