Phil Lord and Chris Miller Credited as Executive Producers on 'Solo: A Star Wars Story'

In the aftermath of Ron Howard replacing directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller on Solo: A Star Wars [...]

In the aftermath of Ron Howard replacing directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller on Solo: A Star Wars Story, fans have wondered how much of the original duo's vision will be making its way into the final product. Despite leaving the project with only a few weeks left of principal photography, the pair have opted to take executive producer credits on the finished film.

"We were really proud of the many contributions we made to that film," Miller told the GLAS Animation Festival audience. "In light of the creative differences, we elected to take an executive producer credit."

According to the Directors Guild of America, when a film has multiple directors, the decision of who to credit comes down to the production company. The company will then notify all directors involved, and if those directors wish, can file appeals to the DGA. While Lord and Miller have likely had no involvement in the film since they parted ways with Lucasfilm, they must feel far enough detached from the project to opt out of any directing credits.

The announcement of the departure came as a shock last summer, as fans were eager to see what the filmmakers behind The LEGO Movie and the 21 Jump Street films had to offer the galaxy far, far away. Unfortunately, it sounds as though their approach to filmmaking was much more suited to comedies than massive productions.

"I think these guys are hilarious, but they come from a background of animation and sketch comedy and when you are making these movies you can do that and there's plenty of room for improvisation, we do that all the time," Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy shared with Entertainment Weekly. "But it has to be inside of a highly structured process or you can't get the work done and you can't move the armies of people to anticipate and have things ready. So, it literally came down to process. Just getting it done."

While the discussion over who directed what will certainly be a topic of discussion once the film hits theaters, Howard doesn't want to address the delineation.

"I don't really want to explain it. I don't really want to be specific about that because, again, I don't even want that to matter to fans," Howard shared with Entertainment Weekly. "I could understand why you'd ask, and some might even be curious, but look, everybody who has been involved in this has done nothing but love what this movie could be, and that's been the vibe around it. I think audiences are gonna feel that love and excitement."

Fans will see the final product when Solo: A Star Wars Story hits theaters on May 25th.

Were you expecting Lord and Miller to retain a directing credit on the film? Let us know in the comments!

[H/T Variety]

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