Ron Howard Defended Jake Lloyd's 'Phantom Menace' Tenure In An Open Letter

With directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller parting ways from the Han Solo spin-off movie and Ron [...]

By Patrick Cavanaugh

With directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller parting ways from the Han Solo spin-off movie and Ron Howard stepping in to take over the rest of the shoot, many fans were nervous about the director's skills in the realm of science fiction and fantasy. Once people began digging deeper into Howard's career than just his latest Da Vinci Code films, discoveries confirmed just how deep his ties to Star Wars ran.

One of the recent details to surface about the director ties into the poorly-received prequel installment The Phantom Menace, with a Twitter user posting a letter Howard wrote in response to a negative critique of the film before it had been released.

The Newsweek article in question chastised Lloyd's performance, which was based on unnamed sources.

"The pot shot at nine year old Lloyd was down right irresponsible," Howard explained in the letter. "I have no way of knowing how accomplished or professional he may have appeared during principal filming, but I seriously doubt these 'insiders' are inside enough to have seen an edited version of the new Star Wars, because I have and in my opinion, Jake Lloyd is terrific in the film (which, by the way, is truly amazing)."

The filmmaker continued, "Movies are subject to public scrutiny, yes, but for Newsweek to attack a child's performance based on a rumor and without even having seen the movie is shameful."

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Howard even brought his own personal experience as a child actor into the conversation, having starred in The Andy Griffith Show for eight years, beginning when he was only 6 years old.

"As someone who began acting professionally at an early age, I can assure you that nine year old Jake Lloyd is quite capable of reading, understanding and feeling the full humiliation of a piece like that," Howard added.

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Dating back decades further than Howard's passionate letter defending Jack Lloyd, his connections to the saga predate even a foot of film being shot.

Howard starred in American Graffiti, directed by George Lucas, in the early '70s. The director of Han Solo recently revealed that Lucas described the concept of Star Wars to him on set, saying he wanted to make a "fun" sci-fi film that used the latest in special effects, similar to what had been seen in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey.

The Han Solo spin-off movie is still slated to debut in theaters May 25, 2018.

The Han Solo spinoff is filming now under director Ron Howard for a May 25, 2018 release. Alden Ehrenreich stars as a young Han Solo and Joonas Suotamo as Chewbacca in the era before Star Wars: A New Hope, before they met Leia and Luke and embarked on a galaxy-saving adventure. Donald Glover also stars as Lando Calrissian, with Woody Harrelson, Thandie Newton, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and Emilia Clarke in as-yet-unrevealed co-starring roles.

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