Entertainment
Ron Howard Reportedly Reshot ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’, Doubling Its Budget
There has been nothing but controversy surrounding Solo: A Star Wars Story since it was announced a few years ago. Critics complained casting anyone but Harrison Ford as the legendary smuggler seemed like a bad move, but Disney decided to move forward with it anyway.
The studio thought they had the script and team in place to make a successful film. However, with just a couple weeks left before production was set to wrap, directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (of ‘Lego Movie’ and ’21 Jump Street’ fame) were fired from the project because of “creative differences.”
Veteran filmmaker Ron Howard was brought in to salvage the project. Howard was initially just going to bring the film to the finish line by retouching some scenes and completing those final weeks of production. However, according to recent reports, it sounds like that’s not even remotely true. Not only did Howard apparently reshoot almost the entire movie but it is said the budget for the film was doubled in the process.
Word is that the footage Lord and Miller shot was deemed “unusable.” It’s actually that tone that got the duo fired as it’s been reported that they were basically creating a comedy. Yet, there’s really no room in the Star Wars universe for a straight up comedy. Beyond that, Ron Howard isn’t a comedy director, he’s an old-school pretty cut and dry director known for films like Apollo 13 and In the Heart of the Sea, films that feel a lot more like the original Star Wars trilogy than 21 Jump Street does.
So, while it may be good news for Star Wars fans it actually sounds like terrible news for Disney/Lucasfilm. Had the film come in at its original budget, it still could’ve made a healthy profit.
But, considering that Rogue One cost about $200 million to produce—before marketing costs—and the fact that this film was originally slated to cost around the same or more, it could end up crossing over the HALF A BILLION DOLLAR range.
If fans don’t warm up to Howard’s version, Solo could go down as one of the bigger disasters in Hollywood history, even if it makes the Kessel Run in 12 Parsecs.