Ron Howard Initially Had Reservations About Directing “Solo”

The Star Wars universe has a lot of wonder and joy, but it also has some controversy. Recent months especially have seen many directors and actors leave certain projects due to one reason or another. The most public one arguably was directors Chris Miller and Phil Lord departing the Solo feature after “creative differences” with the head of Lucasfilm, Kathleen Kennedy. Then, their replacement was none other than Ron Howard. But, if you think it was an easy thing for him to join, you’d be wrong.

For he told Entertainment Weekly:

“I know Chris and Phil. They’re incredibly talented guys, and all anyone at Imagine Entertainment wants to do is find a way to work with Chris and Phil, and that’s every bit as much the case today as ever. But when I learned that this change was happening, it just came in a moment where I was working on lots of new projects for Imagine, and I had not planned to direct anything last year. So then this came my way, and I was talking to Kathy, and the now tragically late Alli Shearmur, an old friend. I was reluctant, but I also began to feel that I could help.”

So why did he join? Well, he saw a challenge, one he really wanted to overcome:

“I actually felt like it was gonna be a very unique, creative experience for me. It happened to fit into my life, and I liked the adventure of tackling challenges, and this was certainly gonna be a hell of a challenge, and it has been. But an exciting one.”

Ron Howard will find out how his “challenge” went, when Solo arrives on May 25th.