Ron Howard Reportedly Shot 70 Percent of ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’

With only weeks to go before the film hits theaters, the behind-the-scenes turmoil of Solo: A Star Wars Story seems to have been forgotten by most. A recent report from the Wall Street Journal, however, details the departure of the film’s original directors and claims that Ron Howard‘s vision for the film is the majority of the finished product.

According to a source who worked on the production, Howard shot 70 percent of the footage featured in the final film. The outlet also notes that original directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller shot the film from the same script as Howard, though there was a difference in both shooting style and tone. The source claimed that Lord and Miller “shot dozens of different versions of scenes, straying from what was in the script,” which confirms earlier reports about their filming style.

As far as the actual tone of the finished scenes, the source noted, “Ron wanted to go back to the spirit of the original trilogy, while Phil and Chris were looking forward to something new, more like Guardians of the Galaxy.” Given their previous work on The LEGO Movie and the 21 Jump Street films, it doesn’t seem unlikely that they would want to put their own stamp on the franchise, even if Lucasfilm wanted something more traditional.

While the source may have been candid about the experience, Howard himself has played it more coy about the situation, not wanting anything other than the final product to speak for itself.

“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 about how much of the film he shot. “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.”

Last fall, the highly-anticipated Justice League was met with disappointing reviews and box office numbers, with many critics citing the drastically different tones of the film as one of its shortcomings. Zack Snyder directed much of that film, with Joss Whedon taking over when Snyder stepped away.

Whether or not Solo suffers the same fate as Justice League will be determined when the film hits theaters on May 25th.

Are you nervous about the different tones of the upcoming movie? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

[H/T Wall Street Journal]