Ron Howard Takes Over Directorial Duties for Star Wars' Han Solo Spinoff

Variety.com reports that Ron Howard has been tapped to replace Phil Lord and Chris Miller as the new director of the "Star Wars" Han Solo spinoff, Lucasfilm announced.

The original directors, Phil Lord and Chris Miller, were fired on Tuesday in the middle of production after clashing with producer and Lucasfilm chief Kathleen KENNEDY and co-writer/executive producer Lawrence Kasdan. The duo, who had previously overseen "The LEGO Movie" and "21 Jump Street," wanted to inject more humor into the storyline and encouraged improvisation, something Kasdan did not appreciate.

Howard will begin work immediately. as it has several weeks left on its shooting schedule, and five additional weeks of pre-scheduled reshoots that were planned for later this year. It is unclear just how Howard will be credited and whether he will share directing credit with Lord and Miller, or potentially take no credit at all since much of the movie was already filmed. Lord and Miller have the right to appeal any decision, but ultimately, the Directors Guild of America will make the call.

Ron Howard (is an American actor and filmmaker. Howard is best known for playing two high-profile roles in television sitcoms in his youth and directing a number of successful feature films later in his career. His films include: the science-fiction/fantasy film Cocoon (1985), the historical docudrama Apollo 13 (1995), the biographical drama A Beautiful Mind (2001) which earned him the Academy Award for Best Director, and the thriller The Da Vinci Code (2006).

The upcoming film centered on Han Solo, a character from the Star Wars franchise, is in production and being produced by Lucasfilm from a screenplay by Lawrence and Jon Kasdan and will be distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The film will be the second Star Wars Anthology film, following 2016's Rogue One. It is a standalone installment, set prior to the events of the original 1977 film, following a young Han Solo. The movie stars Alden Ehrenreich as the titular character, alongside Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Donald Glover, Thandie Newton, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Joonas Suotamo. The film takes place in the universe of Star Wars and explores the adventures of Han Solo and Chewbacca, including meeting Lando Calrissian.

The film is scheduled to be released on May 25, 2018.

PHOTO CREDIT: Ron Howard's Official Facebook Page