In Hollywood, it's not uncommon for a director to leave a movie before production begins, but rarely does it happen in the middle of when the cameras are rolling. Alas, that's what went down last summer with Solo: A Star Wars Story, as Phil Lord and Chris Miller exited the movie due to creative differences with Lucasfilm. With Ron Howard being quickly brought aboard to assume directing duties, the question arose of how Lord and Miller could be credited when the movie finally arrived. Now we have the answer: they're being labeled as executive producers. Miller said:
We were really proud of the many contributions we made to that film. In light of the creative differences, we elected to take an executive producer credit.
Phil Lord and Chris Miller revealed their new status on Solo: A Star Wars Story while speaking at the third annual GLAS Animation Festival Friday (via Variety). Lord and Miller first boarded the Han Solo movie back in July 2015, and by the time they departed the spinoff movie two years later, approximately 75% of the movie had been shot. While Ron Howard subsequently added his own unique touches to Solo: A Star Wars Story during the remaining weeks of principal photography and the extended reshoots (like reworking the Dryden Vos character), Lord and Miller's fingerprints are still all over the movie, so them being credited as executive producers seems more than fair.
Publicly, Phil Lord and Chris Miller attributed their departure from Solo: A Star Wars Story to simply wanting to make a different movie than what Lucasfilm had hired them to make. However, shortly after the news of their exit first came out, it was reported that among the issues that popped up during their time on Solo: A Star Wars Story included the duo taking an improvisational approach with shooting scenes and butting heads with screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan on the London set. In the end, it just wasn't a good fit, but at least Lord and Miller are being properly recognized for the work they poured into the project.
Taking place in the early years of the Empire's reign across a galaxy far, far away, Solo: A Star Wars Story follows Han Solo making a name for himself in the seedy galactic underworld, and along the way, he'll meet Lando Calrissian, obtain the Millennium Falcon pull off a dangerous train heist and more. The main cast includes Alden Ehrenreich, Donald Glover, Emilia Clarke, Woody Harrelson, Thandie Newton, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Joonas Suotamo and Paul Bettany.
Solo: A Star Wars Story blasts its way into theaters on May 25. As for what else this year has in store for the silver screen (which includes Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which Phil Lord and Chris Miller wrote and executive produced), you can find release date information on our 2018 premiere guide.
