So, Ron Howard was brought on board because he's an "Actor's Director". He really knows how to bring out the best in actors and he's working very diligently with Alden Ehrenreich.

Ron's stayed close with Lucas and KK over the years and apparently, had Ron been the initial director, he would have chosen Ansel Elgort over Ehrenreich, which is interesting.

Howard was blown away by Elgort in Baby Driver and thought he would be the perfect for the role as young Han Solo.

Interestingly enough, Elgort was the the runner up to Ehrenreich.

Ansel would have been a pitch-perfect casting. I've been a huge fan since Fault in our Stars

Maz Kanata may appear in the Han Solo Spinoff

The currently untitled Han Solo spin-off movie, finishing up production under the eyes of director Ron Howard, is coming to come together and over the weekend a new rumor sprang up about one of its potential characters.

The story began with a Funko representative speaking on the Steele Wars podcast (via Cinema Blend) where he mentioned that he is excited about the upcoming film and listed off a few cast members including Emilia Clarke, Lupita Nyong’o, Woody Harrelson and Donald Glover.

Trouble is, Nyong’o hasn’t been mentioned in connection with the film before. The actress played the lemon-headed Maz Kanata in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” and the upcoming “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” (in a smaller role), while it has been established Han has known Maz for many years. Her making an appearance isn’t out of the question.

The Funko Pop expert also says that sometimes Disney sends out orders only 4-5 months in advance of the films at present. “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” opens in December with the Han Solo spin-off due May next year.

I not as surprised about Maz being in the film as much as they're still targeting a May 2018 release. :eek:

I'm not a fan of the May release because the Holiday release has become somewhat of a tradition with my young children.

That said, this is a character driven film that relies on performance over VFX, so even if they reshoot the entire film (hint, hint) they can easily make the release date.

I think the box office results of VIII will determine the release date.

http://deadline.com/2017/08/michael-...ts-1202153750/

EXCLUSIVE: Michael K. Williams, an Emmy nominee for his supporting role in HBO’s The Night Of, will not be in the new Star Wars stand-alone Han Solo movie after all.

His part has been cut amid the reshoots now underway with new director Ron Howard. Williams said the revamped production schedule conflicted with his commitment to spy drama The Red Sea Diving Resort, his new movie now shooting in South Africa with Ben Kingsley and Chris Evans.

“I felt great about what I created with the directors that I worked with,” said Williams, who was cast in the Han Solo origin story by original helming duo Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who exited in June. “It is what it is.”

“When Ron Howard got hired to finish out the film, there were some reshoot issues that needed to be done in regards to my character, in order for it to match the new direction which the producers wanted Ron to carry the film in,” Williams told Deadline. “And that would have required me on a plane a month ago to London, to Pinewood, to do reshoots. But I’m here, on location in Africa. It’s scheduling. I’m not going to be back on the market until the end of November after [his SundanceTV series] Hap and Leonard, and for them to wait that long for me, that would have pushed back the release date, which I believe is in May 2018. They wanted me now; I couldn’t go. So they had to clip-clip-clip.” Plot and character details had been kept under wraps, but Williams said he played a half-human, half-animal in the film and that “we created a kick-ass character, in my opinion. I’m proud of it.”

Howard took over from Miller and Lord in late June after the duo left the project due to creative differences. Production resumed in July, and Lucasfilm and Disney still are targeting their original May 25, 2018, release date. Alden Ehrenreich stars as Han Solo and Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Donald Glover, Thandie Newton, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Joonas Suotamo co-star.

“I don’t think that me not being in the Star Wars family is final,” Williams said. “I left with a very good taste in my mouth about the whole family, and I hope that I left a good taste in their mouth. They’re a great group of people, the Lucas family.”

I heard today that up to 80% of the film is being re-shot.

It's amazing how much money Lucasfilm/Disney earns with these projects in that they can just throw away $150+ million dollar film and say "Let's start over!".

http://deadline.com/2017/08/han-solo...ws-1202153484/

What’s happening with the Young Han Solo movie? Any news on that?

Oh, well, the role was just out of this world. The set—if you’re jaded when you walk into a set like Star Wars, you need to get the hell out of this business. It’s just overwhelming to see that and think, This is my office. I’ll never lose that feeling. I’ve got a huge amount of respect for Emilia Clarke and Woody Harrelson. To work with Woody again, because of that friendship. And Emilia Clarke, man, I think she’s amazing. I love what she does, what she brings. She’s a great human being, and we got along so well on set. Then the costume! I ate all that stuff up. But unfortunately, no one will ever get to see it. I feel pretty confident that I’ll be asked to go back into that galaxy, but it won’t be for Han Solo.

You were cut because of Ron Howard’s re-shoot schedule?

When Ron Howard got hired to finish out the film, there were some re-shoot issues that needed to be done in regards to my character, in order for it to match the new direction which the producers wanted Ron to carry the film in. And that would have required me on a plane a month ago to London, to Pinewood, to do re-shoots. But I’m here, on location in Africa. It’s scheduling. I’m not going to be back on the market until the end of November after Hap and Leonard, and for them to wait that long for me, that would have pushed back the release date, which I believe is in May 2018. They wanted me now; I couldn’t go. So they had to clip clip clip.

But I walked away with really an amazing experience. I really got stronger in my instrument. I had to create this character who was half-human, and half-animal, and it was unlike anything I’ve ever had to do before. I wanted to not have him look, feel, sound, or walk like anything I’ve ever done. I had to create something I’ve never seen myself do. I really got to go heavy into the dream assignment. We created a kick-ass character, in my opinion. I’m proud of it. I was a little bothered by it, but I don’t think anything in that galaxy is final, and I don’t think that me not being in the Star Wars family is final. I think something will transpire somewhere down the line. I left with a very good taste in my mouth about the whole family, and I hope that I left a good taste in their mouth. They’re a great group of people, the Lucas family.

Trainwreck!

An 80% re-shoot for a prequel movie based on the Kessel run where the main characters have no chance of dying? This has to be good.
I feel bad for Ron Howard. He's obviously paying a debt by taking this POS on.
I'd say replace KK with anyone with an imagination and we'd get this shit back on track but I'm sure there are bottom-liners above her that are forcing her to cram these shitty one-off, character prequel movies down our throat.

Thank God; totally unimpressed with Disney and KK. The whole buyout/takeover process has been lazy and rushed. Maybe killing everything off and starting over wasn't such a hot idea?

Derp.

I'm not sure where you found this take. Star Wars is going through a flat out renaissance under KK. Episode VII wasn't without its flaws, but Clone Wars, Rebels, and Rogue One have all hit it out of the park. I'm very much looking forward to where the SWU goes with KK, Disney, and Filoni.

Not to mention that the new novels have done an excellent job of filling in the 30 year gap between ROTJ and TFA and the new Marvel comics have been nothing short of bad ass.

I've yet to read the new Thrawn book but hopefully I'll get to it later this year. My oldest loves the Ahsoka book and has been buying the comics and they're really impressive.

Battlefront II also looks amazing and the plans for Star Wars Land at Disneyworld and Disneyland are amazing.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The Outer Rim just got a little bit wilder <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PaulBettany?src=hash">#PaulBettany</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ForceFriday?src=hash">#ForceFriday</a> <a href="https://t.co/KzuAwhcIXy">pic.twitter.com/KzuAwhcIXy</a></p>&mdash; Ron Howard (@RealRonHoward) <a href="https://twitter.com/RealRonHoward/status/903726028979359746">September 1, 2017</a></blockquote>
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An Avengers/Star Wars crossover? Disney has gone too far!!1