Solo movie: Fired directors’ Star Wars spin-off was ‘DARKER, gritty and GRIM’

It’s not really a secret that Howard ended up reshooting 70% of Solo after Chris Miller and Phil Lord were fired as directors by Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy.

And now it turns out the improvised comedy duo, known for their light-hearted humour with 21 Jump Street and The LEGO Movie, actually had shot a very dark Star Wars movie.

Variety reports that Howard “inherited one of the darker aesthetics of any Star Wars film to date; it was one he embraced all the same.

“Lord and Miller had conjured a gritty, grimy palette reflective of the seedy underbelly of conniving crooks, battle-weary war deserters and ruthless criminal syndicates on display.”

Working with screenwriting father and son Lawrence and Jonathan Kasdan, Howard wanted “cool, fast, fun, surprising” action sequences.

Jonathan admitted they weren’t afraid to make changes once the new director was on board with Solo.

They said: “But what we were very defensive of and wanted to have succeed was this tone, because this is not like any other Star Wars movie.

“Its connection to Star Wars is only in its spirit. It’s Han’s tone. It has very little to do with A New Hope.”

Speaking with Variety, he said: “That was something I was hoping to lay in very early. 

“We were doing it very subtly. I wanted to build toward the idea that this crime syndicate that they were involved with was much bigger than this Dryden Vos character [played by Paul Bettany]. 

“This scary guy wasn’t even in charge and there was someone much scarier above him, so we were looking at who could be that guy.”