Hmmm.
“Getting his name?” That’s a new wrinkle. AFAIK, his name was always assumed to be his given name. Like many of Lucas’ creations, Han Solo’s name is an on-the-nose description of his character. Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, Leia Organa, etc. The fact that Han Solo wasn’t always “Han Solo” is some weirdness.
His birth name was Saul Goodman.
What’s the obvious thing about Leia Organa’s name? She lived an organic lifestyle, she played the pipe organ, she was an organ donor?
Booo, BOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
Getting the Falcon and meeting Chewbacca are the least interesting stories they could tell here. We already know how he got the Falcon, no need to beat that point. Though showing him starting as a smuggler before the Falcon would be a nice choice.
I knew they would pick this, but was hoping they wouldn’t.
Like “Vader” it’s not as one-for-one as “Solo” but “Organa” should put you in mind of nature, purity, etc. Organa - organic. If you want to go deep, “organa” is the Greek plural of “organon” meaning “an instrument of thought or knowledge” which does get you to the on-the-nose definition since she’s arguably the smartest character in A New Hope and literally safeguards the Death Star plans on her ship.
“Phil Lord and Christopher Miller are talented filmmakers who have assembled an incredible cast and crew, but it’s become clear that we had different creative visions on this film, and we’ve decided to part ways. A new director will be announced soon,” Kathleen Kennedy, president of Lucasfilm, said Tuesday in a statement.
…
The pic has been shooting in London since February. Sources say there are several weeks left on the shoot (who will be helming those is currently under wraps), with reshoots scheduled for later this summer.
“Uh, had a slight weapons malfunction. But, uh, everything’s perfectly all right now. We’re fine. We’re all fine here, now, thank you. How are you?”
On twitter I’m seeing they only had 3 weeks left of shooting, suggesting the disagreements must have been pretty severe if they’re switching directors this late in the game.
I think this may be a first for either Marvel or Lucasfilm. The Ant-Man situation is close, but Edgar Wright did not actually start principal photography.
That’s a real shame. Like I said a number of times upthread, Lord and Miller were the real draws for me, with their proven track record of making art out of mercenary and unnecessary cash-ins.
At least we still have an fascinating cast and suits that seem to understand the franchise, at least.
Also, this should put to rest the idea that Lucasfilm lets their creatives do what they want and only guides the movies in a general sense. They have a playbook. It’s a little more lenient than Marvel’s based on Rogue One, but you’re not allowed to just film what you want, even for these Star Wars Stories side adventures.
Variety makes it sound messier:
Miller and Lord were stunned to find that they were not being granted freedom to run the production in the manner that they were accustomed to. They balked at Kennedy’s tight control on the set.
A person with knowledge of the production said that the chemistry between the directors and Kennedy was never right.
And for now, the May 25, 2018 release date remains unchanged.
A lot more is leaking about this now. It sounds like Kasdan and Kennedy hated Miller and Lord’s interpretation of Han as well as their production style which is more freewheeling and improvisational.
It feels like everyone is second guessing themselves after Wonder Woman and The Mummy.
With “Book of Henry” getting trashed everywhere, people are also questioning if Trevorrow is up to the job of directing Ep 9. Perhaps after Rogue One’s troubled production, Disney feels like they need to get more involved in the movies?
It actually happened on Rogue One, the very last Star Wars movie. Tony Gilroy replaced Gareth Edwards and did all the reshoots and was heavily involved in the final cut, but Edwards wasn’t completely removed from editing as is the case here. Sounds like either Edwards was more cooperative and accepting than these guys were of being marginalized, or Disney viewed these guys to be more problematic and felt it was better for the picture if they were out of the process.
Disney doesn’t fuck around. On the one hand, they won’t allow a singular creative vision and therefore will have issues with top tier directors, but the company does have a very good track record of producing very few duds, so their hands on/committee approach to filmmaking works for them, even though I think that safe approach will only continue to work as long as the “committee” remains very talented as well, and it’ll never produce the truly great film that’s possible from a single artistic vision.
Kennedy seems very talented, and definitely acts like a TV “showrunner” over this franchise.
He will definitely not work out, for reasons I’ve posted elsewhere here. The sooner Disney pulls the plug on him the better for everyone.
From the accounts I’m reading it started similarly. Kasdan and Kennedy didn’t like the direction the movie was taking so they told Miller and Lord to accept the help of a “production consultant” (another director) that would step in and shore up what was there. Which is what happened on Rogue One. Gilroy took over on Rogue One, but Edwards wasn’t pushed out completely. That was a win-win because Edwards got to keep his reputation intact while Kennedy got the movie she wanted. Miller and Lord didn’t want that so they were canned.
That’s why I’m saying this is something entirely new for Lucasfilm or Marvel. This is not normal in Hollywood at all. It’s common for directors and producers to clash to the point that the director leaves, but that’s usually during pre-production. Firing the director mid-shoot is a disaster for most films that find themselves in this position. I can’t think of many movies that turned out well after something like this.
So what you’re saying is that Disney…altered the deal further.
Han! There’s still a chance to save Han!