Han Solo's Big Chill

"You don't think I'd be fool enough to stick around here, do you?" 
Probably not for the last time, Star Wars has made history. By now we've all heard that directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller (21 Jump Street, The Lego Movie) were fired from the as yet untitled Han Solo standalone movie, by Lucasfilm chief Kathleen Kennedy.

This is pretty crazy, as the film was roughly 75% complete, with only a few weeks left to shoot. So to part company when you're this far along - damn, that must have been some rough sledding. So what happened? By all accounts, Lord and Miller were not content to merge their style with the Star Wars playbook, trying to plug in a lot more humor, while encouraging the cast to improvise. This did not sit well with co-writer and executive producer Lawrence Kasdan. Kasdan wrote The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens - he's the elder statesman of the Star Wars universe - and if he's not digging what you're doing to his script, and neither is Kathleen Kennedy, well, out the airlock you go.

Directors have departed films plenty of times in the past. For tragically personal reasons, Zack Snyder recently left Justice League, with Joss Whedon stepping in to complete the film. But this is different. This is an incredibly high profile termination. And in less than 48 hours after the story broke, Kennedy announced their replacement - Academy Award winning director Ron Howard will be taking the helm, completing principal photography and shepherding additional reshoots over the summer.

How this will all sort out as far as screen credit is anybody's guess, as only the Director's Guild can make that call. But it sure focuses a crazy amount of attention on this project. Howard (Apollo 13 and A Beautiful Mind) could sure use a victory. His last couple of films (Rush and In the Heart of the Sea) have been visually amazing, but also frustrating. He's a world class filmmaker, that's for sure. He's likable and seasoned, and if anyone can right this ship, he's the guy. It helps that he's a massive fan, so his enthusiasm is going to serve him well.

Strange times - and strange timing, given that this news broke on the cusp of the very weekend that as yet unfilmed Star Wars Episode IX director Colin Trevorrow's The Book of Henry received scathing reviews and a whopping 23% on Rotten Tomatoes. Lord and Miller's firing almost feels like a bit of a mafia warning to Trevorrow: "Don't forget - you work for us - and you'd better not forget to please us..." 

This has got to be sobering news for everyone working in the Star Wars universe - enough to put you off your blue milk. And certainly a potent reminder that this is a high stakes game, and that no matter how comfy you may be feeling in the cockpit, any pilot can be replaced.