00:00This is the story of a charming smuggler who lost all direction and the one man who had to keep it all together.
00:06It's Han Solo development.
00:09Alright, let's get to it. It's official.
00:11Ron Howard has been named as the new director of Lucasfilm and Disney's untitled Han Solo movie.
00:17What do you think of that, Chewie?
00:19The move comes only two days after directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller were let go from the film.
00:25They had spent over four and a half months directing.
00:27Creative differences over style and tone came to a head between the duo and Lawrence Kasdan with the studio backing the veteran screenwriter.
00:35The firing sent shockwaves around Hollywood and beyond as the movie was about three quarters through principal photography
00:42and the replacement of a director at that stage is near unprecedented.
00:46The movie was scheduled to shoot for three and a half more weeks with five weeks of reshoots built into the schedule.
00:53The latter a standard procedure on large franchise productions.
00:56Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that Howard will meet with the actors to soothe the rattled set
01:01and will pour over a rough edit to see what the project has and still needs.
01:05The cast includes Alden Ehrenreich as the iconic smuggler,
01:08Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian,
01:11along with Woody Harrelson,
01:12Amelia Clark,
01:14and Tandy Newton also on the roll call.
01:16Shooting is set to begin July 10th.
01:18Howard,
01:19who,
01:20by the way,
01:20won an Oscar for directing 2002's A Beautiful Mind,
01:24comes to the Han Solo film with several connections to George Lucas and the worlds of Lucasfilm.
01:29Do you remember what I'm talking about?
01:31He appeared in Lucas' 1973 breakout film American Graffiti
01:35and implemented Lucas' 1988 pet fantasy project Willow as Helmer.
01:40Howard also revealed on a podcast in 2015 that Lucas had approached him to direct 1999's Star Wars prequel The Phantom Menace.
01:48Though Howard's recent movies, including Inferno and In the Heart of the Sea,
01:53have been costly ventures that underperformed at the box office,
01:56he is considered to be a safe choice to complete the task.
01:59Someone who will more than ably finish the movie while being a calming presence on set.
02:05I can see that.
02:06Everything's going to be okay, guys.
02:07I'm Ron Howard.
02:08Kathleen Kennedy, president of Lucasfilm, announced the news Thursday.
02:12At Lucasfilm, we believe the highest goal of each film is to delight,
02:16carrying forward the spirit of the saga that George Lucas began 40 years ago.
02:21With that in mind, we're thrilled to announce that Ron Howard will step in to direct the untitled Han Solo film.
02:26We have a wonderful script, an incredible cast and crew,
02:30and the absolute commitment to make a great movie.
02:34The untitled Han Solo film is slated for a May 25, 2018 release.
02:39Guys, what is your take on the new director news?
02:41Punch it in the comments, Chewie!
02:43For The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Paul Costabile.
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