With only three weeks of filming director's Phil Lord and Chris Miller have been fired from the Han Solo movie by Lucasfilm. According to reports, the director duo who saw great success with 2014's Lego Movie were asked to leave production on Lucasfilm's second non-episodic Star Wars movie due to "creative differences". While this term is frequently used to cover-up someone's failure during a movie's production, it appears from all sources that with the Han Solo movie the directors' creative vision for the movie was not in line with what Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy and writer Lawrence Kasdan felt was suitable for a Star Wars movie, with rumors that each of the parties involved were in creative conflict throughout production.
While Lucasfilm look for a replacement director to help them realize the movie they envisioned filming on the eagerly awaited spin-off movie has been stopped, though with D23 mere weeks away we expect production will have recommenced by then with assurances from Kennedy that the movie is back on track.
With many of the big Hollywood studios looking to establish their own multi-million dollar cinematic universes the likelihood of directors leaving a movie during its production is inevitable. With studios looking to protect their investment and maximize profits they will undoubtedly assert creative control over their property, especially when their vision is at odds with that of the director(s) they have hired - fans will recall how Edgar Wright left Marvel Studios' Ant-Man because his vision clashed with that of the studio, with Peyton Reed hired to complete production.
Lord and Miller, who turned down the chance to direct Ghostbusters 3 to helm the Han Solo movie back in 2014, were once also frontrunners to direct Warner Bros. and DC's The Flash, with reports suggesting they may now take on the project which has been plagued with production issues.
