Phil Lord and Chris Miller have finally opened up about being fired from Solo: A Star Wars Story. The LEGO Movie and 21 Jump Street co-directors were let go by Kathleen Kennedy in the middle of production on Solo in 2017, before being replaced by longtime George Lucas compatriot Ron Howard in one of the most notorious shakeups in the franchise’s history. Now, with Lucasfilm under new leadership, the filmmakers are leaving the door open to another trip to a galaxy far, far away.
During an appearance on The Town with Matthew Belloni, Lord and Miller were asked whether they’d be willing to return to direct another Star Wars movie if Lucasfilm’s new president, Dave Filoni, ever offered them the gig. Their answer was a simple, “Never say never.” The follow-up question then asked what they would do with the franchise if it was in their hands, and they may have hit the nail on the head for why episodes VII through IX may have misfired. “Those films are independent films. They started that way and they have that spirit. And the other thing is that they’re spiritual, and not to forget, they should be funny.”
Lord and Miller were let go from the Han Solo prequel film over reported disagreements with Lucasfilm over the pair’s improvisational approach that had served them well on their previous hits like Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. Screenwriters Lawrence and Jonathan Kasdan had concerns about the film’s tone diverting too far from their script and causing delays in the production schedule. The co-directors thought they were finding a better film in the dailies while the screenwriters thought they were abandoning the film they wrote. For her part, Kathleen Kennedy sided with the writer who had been working within the franchise since the Empire struck back. Though that appears to be water under the bridge, as the filmmakers revealed, Kennedy had reached out with a note to congratulate them on the success of Project Hail Mary.
One point of contention during their appearance that the filmmakers pushed back on was any desire to see Solo fail after their firing. While the film earned $393 million at the box office, it was a disappointing result for a Star Wars movie that had its budget doubled because of the filmmaker swap. But Lord and Miller were still rooting for the team they had assembled. “No, because, you know, that’s our crew. That’s our cast. Those are the people we cast,” they explained. “What we said to the crew was, if you want to like do something to support us, make a great movie with Ron.”
It wasn’t all recrimination and resolution, as the filmmakers were asked to look back at Solo. Lord and Miller praised Alden Ehrenreich, who has gone on to success in Weapons and Cocaine Bear. But, when they were asked to describe their favorite scene from their version of the film, Lord and Miller offered up their original death scene for Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s L3-37. While the pair wouldn’t give the exact quote, they said her improvisation for her final joke to cheer up a distraught Lando was the most memorable thing they had shot. Here’s a quick compilation of the droid’s best moments:
Lord and Miller already have plenty on their plates, including a sequel to their hit 21 Jump Street franchise, a Murder, She Wrote television series, and putting the finishing touches on Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse. That doesn’t necessarily leave much time in their schedules to jump back to a long time ago. However, the filmmakers noted that they already have relationships with members of the team now overseeing content at Disney and Lucasfilm, so a reunion might not be as far-fetched as it once seemed. Seems like they might be out of Lucasfilm’s director jail, and they didn’t need a giant fuzzball to break them out.
