We only have two months until the release of “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” but yet, the drama continues.
Just when you think everything is going well, cruising along for the May release, more rumors and drama surface about the troubled production of the newest “Star Wars” film. After it was revealed over the weekend by Phil Lord and Chris Miller that the duo was only going to receive executive producer credit on the film, it looked like the home stretch was upon us. This executive producer credit is almost like Lord and Miller, in conjunction with Lucasfilm, agreeing that the comedy directors didn’t have much involvement with the finished product.
But with the publication of a new report from an anonymous actor who worked on the film, there seems to be a lot more to discuss.
READ MORE: Ron Howard Is Perfect For ‘Han Solo’…At Least For Lucasfilm
A new report by Vulture, who spoke with an actor from the film, suggests that all the rumors about the production of the film were true. The anonymous actor, who Vulture claims “declined to be identified because he is not authorized to publicly discuss the movie at this time,” had this to say about why the transition was made between Lord and Miller and incoming director, Ron Howard:
“Phil and Chris are good directors, but they weren’t prepared for ‘Star Wars.’ After the 25th take, the actors are looking at each other like, ‘This is getting weird.’ [Lord and Miller] seemed a bit out of control. They definitely felt the pressure; with one of these movies, there are so many people on top of you all the time. The first assistant director was really experienced and had to step in to help them direct a lot of scenes.”
The report includes a response from a spokesperson for Lord and Miller that claimed this information was “completely inaccurate.”
He also discussed how the cast and crew felt an immediate difference with Ron Howard, “When he came on, he took control and you could feel it. He got respect immediately. He’s really confident. A really easy guy to work with.”
The source goes on to discuss the exact differences between the Ron Howard version of the film and the original Lord and Miller production.
“It’s exactly the same script. They’re filming exactly the same things. There’s nothing new,” says the actor. “[Lord and Miller] used whole sets. But Ron is just using parts from those sets. I guess they’re not shooting wide angle. Maybe to save money.”
Next on the actor’s list to dish about was the performance of ‘Solo’ star Alden Ehrenreich. When the initial reports hit about Lord and Miller’s departure, there was also a little blurb about issues with Ehrenreich’s performance as the legendary Han Solo.
“Trying to mimic Harrison Ford is really tough,” the source says. “Lucasfilm wanted something very specific: copying someone else. Alden’s not a bad actor — just not good enough.”
“You could see his acting became more relaxed. He became more Harrison-like,” the source says. “The coach helped!” This is, of course, referencing the report saying that Lucasfilm was so worried about their star’s performance that they hired a coach to work with Ehrenreich.
The firing of Lord and Miller, and the ensuing articles from the press, seemed to affect the actors involved in the production, as well. “It was crazy,” the anonymous actor said. “They fired our bosses. Everyone was texting each other: ‘Did you see the news? Do you think they’re doing reshoots?’ It was messy. And it was crazy how everything got leaked to the press.”
Finally, the actor gave his two-cents about why Lucasfilm is so concerned with ‘Solo’ and why they are doing everything to make the film work. “They have to make [‘Solo’] good after ‘The Last Jedi’ didn’t make as much money as expected,” he says. “If they want to keep making ‘Star Wars’ movies, it has to be good.”