Star Wars: Fired Solo Directors Say Experience Made Them "Better Filmmakers"
When Lucasfilm was purchased by the Walt Disney Company, no one could have known their plans for revitalizing the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises. Disney initially wanted to put out a sequel trilogy that showed what happens after Star Wars: The Last Jedi and spin-offs labeled Star Wars Story. Both spin-offs that were released, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Solo: A Star Wars Story, both had a ton of behind-the-scenes drama that caused the films to be reshot by a different director. Rogue One's drama wasn't even near as bad as Solo's, with its original directors, Phil Lord and Chris Miller, being taken off the film with only a few days of filming left and Ron Howard being brought on as a replacement to reshoot a huge chunk of the film. Lord and Miller haven't said much about their time on Solo: A Star Wars Story, but now they're revealing that it made them "better filmmakers". In a recent interview with Rolling Stone for the release of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Lord and Miller reflect on their experience with Lucasfilm.
"So much of that experience was positive," Lord began. "We worked with so many great crew people and the Creature Shop, and these amazing craftspeople in London, and a great cast. So like, they can't take the experience that you gain, that many days of shooting. That stays with you. And so that made us better filmmakers."
"And then gave us a drive to make things that felt new and original and fresh and interesting, and have something cool to say and bring things into the world that are unlike anything you've ever seen before. And that's been a driving force before, and even more so after." Miller said before Lord added. "Yeah, it's important to remember that Star Wars was an independent film. And it's important, for us, anyway, to remain independent voices even while making these big franchises for big studios."
Solo: A Star Wars Story Scribe on Potential Sequel
"The reason for a Solo 2 is if there's a great reason and certainly I'd be game if there was...there were so many great characters we were able to establish, and for me, the strongest argument for a Solo 2 is the movie was Alden's journey to owning that mantle, and by the end of it I thought he really did, and he didn't get the fun of getting to just inhabit it for a movie, so I'd love to see him back," Solo: A Star Wars Story scribe Jon Kasdan previously shared.
Every time that May comes around, Star Wars fans prepare to celebrate the anniversary of Star Wars: A New Hope, with Kasdan noting that he also has hopeful and nostalgic reactions to the anniversary, revealing, "I'm certainly one of those people, and when that time of year rolls around, I immediately...my imagination goes to all of the things we intended to do."
Is a Solo: A Star Wars sequel happening?
Solo: A Star Wars Story's director previously confirmed that any hopes for a follow-up film are just a pipe dream from supporters of the movement, as he claims such a film isn't at all a priority at Lucasfilm.
"The only discussion that I'm aware of about a sequel for Solo is coming from the fans at this point," Howard confirmed with NME last year. "I don't think it's a Lucasfilm priority, as I understand it."
He added, "But there's some great characters launched, and the folks from Lucasfilm love the fans and really do listen so I would never say never -- but I'm not aware of any concrete plans right now to extend the story or deal with that particular set of characters."
Solo: A Star Wars Story is exclusively streaming in Disney+!
What do you think about Phil Lord and Chris Miller's comments? Do you want to see their version of Solo: A Star Wars Story? Let us know in the comments below or by hitting up our writer @NateBrail on Twitter!