Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the two writers who were roped in to direct the Star Wars‘ Han Solo spinoff, have been fired after a fallout with producer Kathleen Kennedy and other members of the LucasFilm team.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the style and vision of Lord and Miller clashed with that of Lawrence Kasdan, the screenwriter behind the classics, Empire Strikes Back and Raiders of the Lost Ark, and who also wrote the script for the Han Solo stand-alone set (for now) to be released in 2018.
The clash also came down to differences in understanding the character of Han Solo. “People need to understand that Han Solo is not a comedic personality. He’s sarcastic and selfish,” the source told THR.
Lord and Miller were supposedly hired for their vision and distinctive type of filmmaking. But the chief, Kennedy, however, did not approve of their shooting style and process of interacting with actors and crew.
Issuing a statement about their departure from the project, Lord and Miller said:
“Unfortunately, our vision and process weren’t aligned with our partners on this project. We normally aren’t fans of the phrase ‘creative differences’ but for once, this cliché is true. We are really proud of the amazing and world-class work of our cast and crew.”
Meanwhile, Kennedy issued a statement too:
“Phil Lord and Christopher Miller are talented filmmakers who have assembled an incredible cast and crew, but it’s become clear that we had different creative visions on this film, and we’ve decided to part ways.”
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It is expected that a new director will be roped in to shoot over the next several weeks, go over what Lord and Miller have shot, re-edit what they’ve filmed, and proceed from there.
Lord and Miller are known for their quirky writing and films including 21 Jump Street and The Lego Movie. Their next project is rumoured to be The Flash, Warner’s movie about the DC Comics hero.
The Han Solo standalone film remains slated for a May 25, 2018 release.
Feature Image: Variety