Solo: A Star Wars Story is mere months away and we have yet to see even a teaser for the film. No Star Wars film under the new Disney/Lucasfilm regime has had quite such an outwardly troubled production as the origin film for the galaxy's best smuggler. Original directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller were fired from the film with only a few weeks left in production and replaced with veteran director Ron Howard. But just because this situation seems outwardly chaotic, that doesn't mean that it was that way for those still working on the film. In fact, one of the film's stars, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, seemed to indicate the directorial change was pleasant and professional, saying:
The handover there was done with such warmth and generosity from everybody, and Ron's just a master at his craft; he's going to make a beautiful film out of it. You just really trust him and it was just really exciting to work with him. I mean, it would've been exciting to just pass him in a corridor, let alone for him to be parachuted in to the film you're working on.
Phoebe Waller-Bridge's statements here to IGN echo the sentiments we have heard from the stars of the film since Ron Howard took over. While I'm sure the directorial change wasn't an ideal situation, Ron Howard is a veteran and a professional, so one would assume he brought excitement and positivity to the production. Phoebe Waller-Bridge also seems to have relished the opportunity to work with a filmmaker of his caliber. While everyone involved in the film is likely trying to put a positive spin on the bumpy production, they may also have truly enjoyed working with Ron Howard and have faith in his direction and the film he is putting together.
If the handoff was smooth and reassuring, that hopefully made the actors more comfortable with the change and confident moving forward. Ideally that will translate to a cohesive final film. The real question now is just how much this is Ron Howard's film versus Phil Lord and Chris Miller's. It sounds like, for Phoebe Waller-Bridge, there will still be a lot of Lord and Miller's influence in her role, as she explained:
We'd done some really, really great stuff with Chris and Phil that everyone was really thrilled with, and I think a lot of that will still be in it.
Once the movie is out, it's doubtful we'll ever get a percentage breakdown of who shot what. In fact, the amount of reshoots has been the subject of much debate and it seems that the answer may not have been the same for every actor, with some having more to do than others. If there is great stuff from Lord and Miller that works with the story Disney is trying to tell then the company should absolutely use it and maybe we'll get an amalgam of different directorial visions that somehow works as a whole.
Ultimately, the number of reshoots and all of this newsworthy production trouble is irrelevant. There are countless movies throughout history that have had reshoots and more troubled productions than Solo that have turned out great. All that matters is what hits theater screens in May, or December if Solo needs to be pushed back to perfect it. With any luck we'll get a teaser or full trailer soon that if it hits all the right notes, will assuage any fears we have and get everyone excited to see that smuggling scoundrel once again.
Solo: A Star Wars Story blasts into theaters on May 25th. For all of this year's biggest movies, check out our release schedule.
