Ron Howard Takes Over Han Solo Film

Now the story of one movie that lost everything, and the one director who had no choice but to keep it all together. It's the Untitled Han Solo Star Wars Anthology Film .

The week started with a great disturbance in the force, as if two directors cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. On Monday, June 20th, 2017, Phil Lord and Chris Miller announced their departure from the upcoming Han Solo Star Wars spinoff movie.

Citing creative differences with Disney, the directing team responsible for The Lego Movie and 21 Jump Street said, "Unfortunately, our vision and process weren’t aligned with our partners on this project. We normally aren’t fans of the phrase ‘creative differences’ but for once this cliché is true. We are really proud of the amazing and world-class work of our cast and crew."

Disney confirmed their departure later that day. “Phil Lord and Christopher Miller are talented filmmakers who have assembled an incredible cast and crew," said Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy. "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."

Over the past few days, rumors about why the directors left the picture swirled around the internet. While the film was nearing completion, according to The Hollywood Reporter, the directors clashed over the comedic tone and on-set improv with Lucasfilm and screenwriter Lawrence Kasden, who in addition to writing the Han Solo film, wrote The Empire Strikes Back and Raiders of the Lost Arc.

To stay on track with the film's May 2018 release, Disney announced that studio-veteran Ron Howard (The Da Vinci Code) would step into the director's chair. And as soon as his name popped up in the rumor mill, the internet went wild with The Narrator memes, mimicking Howard's role as the narrator on cult-television series Arrested Development.