Star Wars: Thandie Newton Addresses Fears About ‘Solo’ Director Shake-Up

Over four months ago, the Star Wars community was shocked to learn of directing duo Phil Lord and Chris Miller departing the Han Solo spinoff movie, as well as by the news that Ron Howard would step in to take their place. Given the variety of rumors and speculation about why the directors left the project and what the final product will look like, star Thandie Newton recently shared that a majority of their work, and tone, is present throughout the film.

“Apart from the initial shock and feeling bad for [Lord and Miller] not being able to finish their work, their work is everywhere in it,” Newton told Entertainment Weekly. “Ninety percent of my stuff is with them. And it certainly wasn’t about, ‘Oh we have to start again and do it all over.’”

Lord and Miller departed the project in late June when the film reportedly only had a few weeks of shooting left. Add to that the supposed five weeks of reshoots, the project tentatively would have wrapped up in late August.

Instead, the shoot wrapped in late October, with Howard officially announcing the film’s title of “Solo: A Star Wars Story.”

“Obviously, it was a surprise,” Newton expressed of the leadership change. “I love Phil and Chris — everybody loves Phil and Chris — they’re so brilliant. Ron and the guys were talking to each other.”

While the final product might not feel like a singular vision, Newton claimed the end result will be even more unique.

“As far as I’m concerned what’s on screen, in the end, is going to be an amazing collaboration. It’s a massive piece,” she shared. “We see so often now there are two directors working on pictures. We already had two with Phil and Chris. Now there’s three. With a project like that where it’s a vision that’s been created over so many years, that’s so expansive, I think it’s less about things going wrong than getting more help to bring it into the best position it can be in.”

The actress had a hard time containing her enthusiasm for the project, specifically the opportunity to work with an accomplished cast and crew.

“I really like Ron though, he’s very sweet,” Newton pointed out. “And [the film is] dope; it’s so cool! And it’s such a great cast with Phoebe [Waller-Bridge], [Alden] Ehrenreich, Donald Glover, Woody [Harrelson] and, of course, you know the wonderful Game of Thrones angel, Emilia [Clarke].”

We’ll see how the project turned out when Solo: A Star Wars Story hits theaters on May 25, 2018.

[H/T Entertainment Weekly]