Star Wars Is Getting Its First Oscar-Winning Director

Star Wars fans were thrown into panic when it was recently announced that the Star Wars standalone […]

November 9, 2017, 5:38pm

Star Wars fans were thrown into panic when it was recently announced that the Star Wars standalone film about Han Solo was losing acclaimed directing duo Chris Miller and Phil Lord (21 Jump Street, The LEGO Movie). However, Lucasfilm made a quick and decisive move to settle things down, by tapping director Ron Howard to take over the helm of the Han Solo movie.

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While the Internet has definitely had a distinct (and as usual, divisive) reaction to the Han Solo director shakeup, there is one interesting milestone that comes with Howard being assigned to finish the film:

For the first time ever, a Star Wars movie will be directed by an Oscar-winner; a multi-Oscar-winner, at that. It’s a level of accomplishment and acclaim that Ron Howard has certainly earned – as you can see for yourself, below.

A Beautiful Mind (2002)

Ron Howard’s big Oscar night came in 2002, when he was rewarded with two Oscars for A Beautiful Mind – one for Best Picture, the other for Best Director.

A Beautiful Mind was a dramatic biopic about John Nash, the famous Mathematician who got into covert work in cryptography for the government, and nearly lost everything when his mental condition began to deteriorate into paranoid schizophrenia.

The film one 4 Oscars in total: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Jennifer Connelly), and Best Adapted Screenplay (Akiva Goldsman).

Frost/Nixon (2008)

Frost Nixon Ron Howard Oscars Nomination

Ron Howard earned another round of Oscars consideration for his 2008 film, Frost/Nixon, about the fateful TV interview between British TV host David Frost (Michael Sheen) and President Richard Nixon (Frank Langella).

In a tale that is eerily timely in this day and age, David Frost interviewed Nixon years after the Watergate scandal. That interview finally revealed, in public, the egomaniacal (and downright maniacal) side of Nixon’s persona, which he had tried so very hard to hide.

Howard made a thrilling film out of little more than the build up to, and filming of, a television interview. It was Oscar-worthy, even if it didn’t win.

Golden Globes

If you look to Ron Howard’s accomplishments at the Golden Globe level, it’s even more impressive:

WON – Beast Actor in a TV Series (Comedy or Musical) for Happy Days in 1978.
NOM – Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Motion Picture) for The Shootist in 1976.
NOM – Best Director (Motion Picture) for Apollo 13 in 1996.
NOM – Best Director (Motion Picture) for A Beautiful Mind in 2002.
NOM – Best Director (Motion Picture) for Frost/Nixon in 2009.

In addition to his acclaim both in front of and behind the camera, Howard also has a lot of titles on his filmography that should ease the minds of Star Wars fans, including: