He was confirmed to have bagged the job just yesterday after a flurry of rumours and now Ron Howard has spoken out about working on the in-production Star Wars spin-off Han Solo. The legendary filmmaker spoke with Variety about working with Lucasfilm, as well as taking to social media to share some initial thoughts.
“It’s a little opportunity that came my way,” Howard told the trade. “I’ve been a fan forever. It’s gratifying to be asked to lend my voice to the [Star Wars] universe. So many people involved in the ‘Star Wars’ franchise are friends. It’s already been in production, and there’s a lot of really great work there.”
Here’s what he had to say on Twitter.
I’m beyond grateful to add my voice to the Star Wars Universe after being a fan since 5/25/77.
— Ron Howard (@RealRonHoward) June 22, 2017
I hope to honor the great work already done & help deliver on the promise of a Han Solo film.
— Ron Howard (@RealRonHoward) June 22, 2017
The directing job on the Han Solo movie, which has been shooting for just under five months, came because Phil Lord and Chris Miller left the project at the start of the week over ‘creative differences’.
Of course Howard has worked with Lucasfilm before – acting in George Lucas’s 1970s movie America Graffiti, and then directing the cult classic Willow in the 80s.
The Han Solo movie is still scheduled to be released in May 2018. Whether that will change due to the recent developments remains to be seen. We’ll obviously keep you posted.
