If you follow Star Wars movie news on a regular basis, you're almost certainly aware of the behind-the-scenes troubles that plagued Solo: A Star Wars Story earlier this year. Approximately 75% of the way through principal photography, Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the duo who'd been attached to helm Han Solo's solo adventure for two years, were abruptly dismissed. Days after Lord and Miller's exit was announced, Ron Howard was announced as their replacement, and a little over a week ago, Solo: A Star Wars Story completed its shoot. Since the directorial shift, there have been questions about how much of Lord and Miller's footage would be kept in the finalized version of the movie, but now there's word that Howard reshot nearly all of the standalone Star Wars story when he came aboard. Here's what the folks at Star Wars News Net recently said they learned from their sources:
They have informed us that the reshoots ended up covering nearly all of Han Solo. All of the film. And potentially up to twice the budget...We're hearing that Ron Howard reshot potentially 80% or more of the movie.
The above information was revealed in the most recent episode of The Resistance Broadcast, and should it be legitimate, it means that few, if any, of the footage Phil Lord and Chris Miller shot during their time on Solo: A Star Wars Story will be saved. When Ron Howard was hired as the movie's new director, it was to be expected that this Star Wars tale would fall more in line with his directorial sensibilities. After all, the reason Lord and Miller exited Solo: A Star Wars Story was reportedly due to clashes with Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy over the tone and the improvisational way they ran the production.
Still, even taking into account that Solo: A Star Wars Story went through an additional four months of filming after Howard's recruitment (much longer than a traditional reshoot period), the idea that almost all of the film was overhauled is somewhat surprising, and further calls into question just how Lord and Miller will be credited. That being said, the nearly-doubled budget would fall in line with the extra time, energy and resources that was dropped, and given that the recent Star Wars movies have surpassed $1 billion, presumably Solo: A Star Wars Story wouldn't have any trouble hitting this mark either. Obviously there wouldn't be as much of a profit, but it certainly wouldn't come close to a loss either.
Details concerning Solo: A Star Wars Story's main story are still being kept under wraps, but at minimum, moviegoers will see how the future Rebellion hero built his reputation as a charming smuggler. The main cast includes Alden Ehrenreich, Donald Glover, Emilia Clarke, Woody Harrelson, Thandie Newton, Joonas Suotamo, Ian Kenny, Warwick Davis and Clint Howard. Michael K. Williams was also originally supposed to appear in the movie, but due to Williams having scheduling conflicts during the reshoot period, Paul Bettany was recast in the role, and that particular character has been changed from an alien to a human.
Solo: A Star Wars Story blasts its way into theaters on May 25, 2018. As for when next year's other highly-anticipated blockbusters will be released, you can look through our 2018 premiere guide for that information.
