When it comes to upcoming blockbuster projects, few have generated quite as many headlines as Solo: A Star Wars Story. The forthcoming Star Wars anthology film was rocked by the firing of Phil Lord and Chris Miller last summer and then stabilized with the hiring of Ron Howard to carry it across the finish line. Now, with fewer than two months until Solo debuts on the big screen, new reports about Lord and Miller's allegedly unprepared directing style have surfaced online, spurring reactions from all sides of the debate. In fact, in response to these recent reports, Chris Miller took to Twitter and wrote:
Maybe don't believe everything you read.
These comments seem spurred by a recent Vulture article providing some potential insight into the nature of the Solo: A Star Wars Story issues from the point of view of an unnamed source on the set. According to the report, Phil Lord and Chris Miller allegedly shot "more than 30 takes" for some scenes, leading to confusion among the cast and crew over how long certain sequences were taking and what they specifically wanted from the performers. These issues were seemingly compounded by the rumored hiring of an acting coach to help star Alden Ehrenreich imitate the idiosyncrasies of Harrison Ford more convincingly. Moreover, the report also suggests that Solo's first assistant director had to step in and handle directing duties on some of the scenes due to their lack of preparation for the responsibilities. Likely, though, people will still be interested in the topic until and maybe even after Solo: A Star Wars Story comes out.
Though Chris Miller's tweet doesn't overtly call out the recent article or clarify any of its specific points, it's easy to see how the two could be related. The Lord and Miller camp has remained relatively quiet in relation to the reports concerning their involvement in Solo: A Star Wars Story and their eventual firing, although they have previously explained why they were fired from the project. However, these specific rumors seem to have spurred a response -- particularly given the fact that it seems to suggest that Ron Howard's presence on the set provided Solo: A Star Wars Story with a renewed sense of efficiency while shooting the exact same scenes. Regardless, Lord and Miller are still going to receive executive producer credits on the final cut of Solo, so the dust seems have settled in the apparent rift between the creative duo and Lucasfilm.
Of course, it's definitely worth mentioning the fact that Solo: A Star Wars Story isn't the first instance of a major Star Wars blockbuster dealing with last-minute changes. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story similarly went through a massive overhaul leading up to its release, with Tony Gilroy stepping in to helm some reportedly significant reshoots. However, that instance was slightly different because director Gareth Edwards remained involved in the project and helped see it all the way through. We may never know what exactly happened in the case of Solo: A Star Wars Story, but with its release date now looming, we're starting to get a better sense of how certain parties feel about the fallout.
No matter what, Solo: A Star Wars Story will debut in theaters later this year on May 25. From there, the saga will continue next year when J.J. Abrams' Star Wars: Episode IX hits theaters on December 20, 2019.
