Trailer for Phil Lord and Chris Miller's Version of 'Solo: A Star Wars Story' Reportedly Exists

A year before it was slated to hit theaters, Solo: A Star Wars Story directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller parted ways with Lucasfilm, with Ron Howard taking on the task of finishing the film. Various rumors have emerged following the announcement about the change in leadership and how much Howard re-shot of Lord and Miller's original footage, with ScreenCrush reporting that the studio had created a trailer featuring the directors' material, though they chose to never release it.

At Star Wars Celebration last April, audiences were delivered our first teaser for The Last Jedi, which became one of the most talked-about events of the entire convention. Many attendees had expected to learn details about the Han Solo film, which was then untitled, as it seemed like the perfect way to offer audiences their first glimpse of the origin story.

ScreenCrush shared, "Lucasfilm had created a Solo trailer to show at Star Wars Celebration, assembled from the footage from Lord and Miller's shoot. They just chose not to screen it. According to my source, the trailer was cut together and then shelved for exactly the same reasons that Lord and Miller were let go two months later; Lucasfilm wasn't happy with it."

The announcement of the director change-up took place that June, which likely means the studio had been unhappy for quite some time and did their best to keep Lord and Miller on the project before the decision was made for the split.

If you're hoping to ever see this footage and witness what could have been, don't get your hopes up, as the Lucasfilm vaults are some of the most secure out there.

One of the most infamous pieces of Star Wars media is 1978's Star Wars Holiday Special, in which the original cast celebrated "Life Day" in an incredibly absurd variety show. The event is well-known among fans, with many bootleg copies appearing across the internet, but George Lucas and Lucasfilm are so ashamed of the special that they have vowed to never release it in any official capacity.

Similarly, at Star Wars Celebration VI in 2012, the animated comedic series Star Wars Detours was announced by the creators of Robot Chicken. A teaser for the series was screened, yet the purchase of the studio by Disney resulted in the series being locked away indefinitely as to not offer audiences a conflicting tone of the new films in the franchise. The series features nearly 40 completed episodes and more than 60 completed scripts.

While we might never see these scrapped versions of the Star Wars saga, we can still enjoy Solo: A Star Wars Story in theaters this Friday.

Would you be interested in seeing this scrapped trailer? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

[H/T ScreenCrush]