Ron Howard Talks ‘Han Solo’, Shares New BTS Photos and Hints at a Role for his Brother Clint
After about a month on set of the Han Solo movie, the film’s new director (after the firing of Lord and Miller), Ron Howard, made some comments to Heat Vision on Tuesday to help ease fan-angst over the complication-riddled production. According to Howard, the film is coming along great. The director also shared two new photos from the set and made an interesting hint on Twitter.
(via The Hollywood Reporter):
The Oscar-winning director told Heat Vision on Tuesday the space adventure project is “coming along great.”
“It’s a fantastic script, a great cast and I am having a fantastic creative experience with it,” he said.
Howard, who noted he is still relatively new to the production, said the film “came with great characters, a great script and actors who inhabit those characters.”
The director continued, “It’s a great young cast, incredibly strong — smart, funny people who love their characters and love being part of this. I think we’ll be able to do something that is a lot of fun.”
Of course, it’s not like Howard is going to come out and say things like “Oh man, what the heck have I gotten myself into?!” or “This film is a nightmare!”, but it is always encouraging nonetheless when the people involved in a production give such positive feedback.
If he had just stopped at “it’s coming along great”, there might still be some warranted concern over the overall state of this film’s production, but the fact that he was explicit in calling out the “fantastic script” and “great cast” (things we have heard many times before) makes me feel a little more relaxed about the problems that have plagued this movie so far.
It is also noteworthy how Howard mentions having a “fantastic creative experience”, which is the complete opposite feeling experienced by the film’s former directors, who reportedly left the project over creative differences.
Many fans have also wondered if Howard would be creating a role for his brother Clint, as the latter has often appeared in many other films directed by his brother. In a recent tweet, Howard seemed to confirm the same would be true for the Han Solo movie as well.
You won’t be disappointed
— Ron Howard (@RealRonHoward) August 2, 2017
This revelation came after Howard shared yet another photo from the ‘Han Solo’ set:
Droids help make the Galaxy go round but I find they don’t always listen to the director!#UntitledHanSoloMovie pic.twitter.com/XSgvK4y4Dd
— Ron Howard (@RealRonHoward) August 2, 2017
And just a few minutes ago, the director revealed a new image showcasing a new orange R2 unit from the movie, continuing the topic about droids.
These droids can be so damn intractable. But we’ll go until we get it right! #UntitledHanSoloMovie pic.twitter.com/tDR6EOW8pn
— Ron Howard (@RealRonHoward) August 2, 2017
Jordan Pate is Co-Lead Editor and Senior Writer for Star Wars News Net, of which he is also a member of the book and comic review team. He loves all things Star Wars, but when he's not spending time in the galaxy far far away, he might be found in our own galaxy hanging out in Gotham City or at 1407 Graymalkin Lane, Salem Center, NY.
Everyday I get more and more excited for this film. Also, I’m assuming it’s maybe not a coincidence that we are getting more and more set photos now that there is a new director…?
I agree. I was not excited before, but now with Ron Howard taking up the reins, I have a more optimistic appraisal of the situation.
That’s really good to hear, honestly. I’ve been on the defense side of this movie since its announcement, and took a lot of flak for it. Glad people are starting to come around.
It’s actually really refreshing to find a few people on the Internet who share an optimistic view on this film, i’ve been excited for it since day 1 and the fact that the director is sharing BTS photos and interacting with fans gives me real confidence that it’s going to be a lot of fun.
Me too!!
Me too. I am a lot less concerned about the HAn Solo movie than I am about Episode VIII…
I like Ron Howard, but I was actually more excited for Lord and Miller. For granted, you could question why KK hired comedy directors to do HS. But as a big fan of their work, I was most curious.
Really, I want the movie to succeed just to prove people wrong. And I say this as someone who doesn’t like HS. If I had it my way, this movie would never exist. But really, I do think a movie about HS can be done.
It is just going to be a really, really, really tough sell.
I too am looking forward to it. If you notice, Howard keeps hashtagging “untitledHanSolomovie”…makes me think that one day he’s just going to hashtag the actual title and the internet will explode. 🙂
That would be frickin awesome if he did that. It would be different for sure……but still fun to find out. Great idea, let’s hope that is to be the case.
I noticed the very same today (and posted here already). Ron is quite humble, a very good guy as we can see. I alredy like him a lot (I did not know him very much before, watched his films but didn’t took notice of the director). The previous directors were somewhat cold and detached from the Star Wars feeling, the excitement, the joy of make a stamp in the franchise. They only apeared twice! The cast photo and the campaign Force For Change. Nothing spontaneous!!
A very good choice, Ron Howard. Kathleen Kennedy was right. Period. Live long Star Wars!!
Let us not forget JJ Abrams’ spontaneous photos with his “sticky notes”, and his battle with Zack Snyder culminating to the ‘hunk of junk’ short with the batmobile. I would say that showed excitement and provided us with fun BTS content.
Yes!!! I like that things!! Star Wars is a familiar material, a culture shared by friends, an universal one. Let’s have fun with it, respecting the essence, of course.
Nothing to see here, move along…
Orange and white astromech…is that B8-B8?
R2-B8
Either that, or CRM-51KL.
Orange and white? Looks more like beige and cream… come on…. get your colors right! 😉
It’s orange and white. The low light makes it look beige and cream.
This is the new black and blue dress. Don’t dare say it was white and gold!
Another pointless droid in a Star Wars movie that will be dragged along?
What is that even supposed to mean?
Another pointless post droning on about nothing.
Clint Howard is a hell of an actor. Would be exciting to see his contribution to the franchise.
I’d love if Clint gets a substantial role, rather than just a small one.
CLINTOID:
This is TRANYA.
(beat)
… and you have NO idea how far I had go to import it!
I like how Ron is more sympathetic and open about the movie. The previous directors didn’t share almost nothing about the movie, and, a personal perception of mine, they showed a somewhat cold expectation about the movie. I could not see the excitement that JJ Abrams, Gareth, Rian and Colin displayed so far.
I wish Ron Howard the best of luck. And I mean this sincerely. Whatever one’s thoughts are on Lord and Miller leaving and who is to blame, one cannot deny that this is a crappy situation. Especially, given the questionable marketing and information leaking out. To get personal, LF shouldn’t even be marketing this film until post TLJ releasing.
But really, I want this film to prove me wrong and be good. Because, I have said countless times; I do not care about Han Solo. He was always my least favorite of the trinity. But having read the Han Solo book trilogy, I know that there is a story to tell. And in the right hands, it can be done. Now, do I agree that it may take away from the mystique of HS? Perhaps, if done horribly.
So really, me wanting this film not to exist is less due to my love of HS and more to wanting original content and storylines. So yeah, I am tepidly optimistic. My hope is that Ron can make magic out of what he is working with. Because, this film ironically enough fits the classic trope of SWs: an underdog in the face of adversity. 🙂
But this IS original content and storylines. That’s why it’s so exciting, Han Solo doing what he claims he’s best at – smuggling (SUCCESSFULLY) – has rarely been seen on-screen. If we go by only what we see in the films, Han is a TERRIBLE smuggler. He fucked up Jabba’s spice shipment and got a bounty for it. He screwed over at least two major criminal gangs on multiple occasions, and when confronted by the both of them, fucked up his CURRENT job in the process. The only time we see him succeed in his supposed “career” is when he delivers Luke , Ben and their droids to the Rebel Alliance, and even then, he got trapped in an Imperial tractor beam on the way. What kind of smuggler doesn’t run scans to make sure the authorities don’t have any forces near his destination, anyways?
What?? No Fonzie??
Heeeeey!
(No one said there is, but then again — No one said there isn’t either).