It's something every Star Wars fan has attempted from time to time. We've all done our own Wookiee roar just to see how close we could get to the distinctive sound Chewbacca makes. Most of us are probably better at it than Ron Howard. The director of Solo: A Star Wars Story was recently answering fan questions on Twitter when he was asked to perform his best Wookiee noise. While the director admitted to never trying it before, he gave it his best shot, and the result was...not impressive. Even Chewbacca himself chimed in on it. Check it out.
I'm usually not one to criticise somebody for something like this, but I'm forced to agree with Chewie here, that was pretty bad. It sort of sounds like Ron Howard is choking on something more than he's trying to let out a roar. Sure, Wookiee sounds aren't simply guttural roars, but even when making a soft sound the Wookiee voice still has a depth to it that Howard is utterly unable to capture.
The question was part of several that were asked by fans of Ron Howard on the official Star Wars Twitter account in anticipation of the May 25 release of Solo: A Star Wars Story. Chewbacca was introduced as being there with Howard from the beginning and was part of several answers, which is probably why the question was asked of Howard in the first place.
Luckily, as far as I know, Ron Howard is not providing the voice of any of the Wookiees in Solo so we don't ever need to hear that terrible sound ever again. Trailers for the movie have confirmed the appearance of other Wookiees in addition to Chewbacca, though at this point we don't really know they fit into the overall story.
While there was some question regarding what the reception would be for Solo: A Star Wars Story, following the films behind the scenes issues, the film is doing remarkably well when it comes to pre-sale tickets. It just goes to show that at the end of the day Star Wars is still Star Wars and the average fan either doesn't even know about the film's issues or just doesn't care. Han Solo is a popular character and the movie is going to do well regardless. It's also the only Star Wars movie we're going to get for a year and a half, with Star Wars: Episode IX pushed back from its original May 2019 date back into December.
While Ron Howard may not be the best at Wookiee noises, he's an accomplished director and we know he has much stronger skills in that arena. He'll be playing to his strengths when Solo: A Star Wars Story arrives later this month.
