As we reported this morning, Phil Lord and Chris Miller have left the set of Star Wars: Han Solo after that old chestnut - creative differences.
However, an exclusive report by Variety has added a bit more context to their departure and the story doesn't paint Kathleen Kennedy or Lucasfilm / Disney in a positive light. According to Variety's sources, Lord and Miller were fired from the set and didn't gel from the very beginning.
"(Kathleen Kennedy, president of Lucasfilm), her team and Larry Kasdan have been doing it their way for a very long time. They know how the cheese is made and that’s how they want it made," said Variety's source, who also said that Kennedy and Kasdan repeatedly questioned their directorial choices throughout the shoot, which kicked off in January of this year. "It was a culture clash from day one... she didn’t even like the way they folded their socks."
Of course, none of this is particularly new or surprising. Major studio tentpoles such as these are often fraught with clashes between studios and directors. Edgar Wright walked off the set of Ant-Man just before it was due to begin shooting, Mark Romanek bailed on The Wolf-Man, Patty Jenkins left Thor: The Dark World and Michelle MacLaren left Wonder Woman before it began production.
In this case, however, being fired (or leaving, if you believe the studio line) in the middle of production is unusual - and definitely doesn't bode well for the finished product, either. Even if Lucasfilm does manage to bring Ron Howard on and he brings it home and it all works out, other directors who Lucasfilm were keen on working with will almost definitely think twice about signing on.
Kathleen Kennedy has often talked up a big game about how Disney and Lucasfilm are bringing on indie directors with unique perspectives, but if it doesn't work to their particular standards, they're happy to dump them out of the process and replace them.
Just ask Gareth Edwards during the reshoots for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story when Tony Gilroy was brought in to oversee them.
Via Variety
