Ron Howard is sharing more details than ever before about what went wrong behind the scenes of Solo: A Star Wars Story. Speaking to Vulture, the Oscar-winning director said Lucasfilm’s split with Phil Lord and Chris Miller boiled down to tone.
“They basically said, ‘We’ve reached a creative impasse with Lord and Miller. Would you ever consider coming in?’” Howard recalled. “I looked at some edited footage, and I saw what was bothering them. There was a studio that liked the script the way it was and wanted a ‘Star Wars’ movie, but there was a disconnect early on tonally, and they weren’t convinced that what Phil and Chris were doing was working effectively.”
Howard explained that once he agreed to come on, Lucasfilm wanted major changes:
“Once I said, ‘Okay, I think I can do this script, and I think I understand what you want of this script,’ they said, ‘We’d want to reshoot a lot.’ I looked at the whole movie and then pointed out some things that I thought were great. And Phil and Chris were incredibly gracious throughout that process. They were just seeing two different movies. So I came in, I had a blast, but there’s nothing personal about that film whatsoever. It’s still just a shame. I can’t wait for Phil and Chris’s next movie.”
Before signing on, Howard even spoke with George Lucas, who gave him one piece of advice: “Just don’t forget — it’s for 12-year-old boys.”
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A Film That Fell Short of Disney’s Big Plans
Solo was supposed to kick off a whole new wave of spinoffs about younger versions of Han Solo and Lando Calrissian. The movie even teased Darth Maul’s return to the galaxy. But after it earned $392 million worldwide, plans for sequels stalled.
Howard later admitted he was “disappointed” with the response, even though he personally enjoyed the ride. “It made a lot of money, it just didn’t live up to expectations,” he said back in 2019. He also suggested nostalgia may have worked against the film: “Maybe it’s the idea that it’s too nostalgic. That going back and revisiting an origin story for a beloved character may not be what the fans were looking for.”
What Fans Are Really Saying
Years later, Solo still sparks debate among Star Wars fans. Some believe it deserved better, while others think it was unnecessary from the start.
A fan argued the release date was a big problem: “The main reason this movie did bad was it came out in May and another Star Wars movie had just left theaters two weeks before. If this movie was delayed until Christmas it would have done much better.”
Others felt Alden Ehrenreich proved himself as Han Solo: “The guy did a great job. I grew up with the originals, and Harrison will always be Han in my book, but the kid did a good job. I liked him in that role.” Another put it this way: “He did a great job playing Han Solo instead of trying to do the impossible thing of impersonating a young Harrison Ford.”
There are also fans who think Lucasfilm crammed too much into one movie: “We see Han get his name, his blaster, meet Chewie, see the Falcon for the first time, win the Falcon, and learn about Jabba all within a couple of weeks. Then he stagnates for a decade until he meets Luke. Always thought that was ridiculous.”
And of course, many are still curious about the version of Solo we never got. As one summed it up: “That we’ll never get a Lord & Miller Star Wars feels like such a crime.”
The Legacy of Solo
For all its production troubles, a lot of fans now call Solo underrated. One comment put it simply: “It’s a ton of fun. Ehrenreich may not look like Harrison Ford, but he has the mannerisms exactly. It’s just such a fun side story.”
Whether you loved it, hated it, or just wished you’d seen Lord and Miller’s take, Solo remains one of the most debated Star Wars films of the Disney era. And for Howard, it’s still “just a shame” how it all went down.