Cantina Talk: So, What’s Going on With the Han Solo Movie?

Didja hear? The Han Solo standalone movie had quite the shakeup last week. With just a few weeks left to go before the end of principal filming, the directors of the flick were fired from the project and replaced a couple days later. Meanwhile, the director of Star Wars: Episode IX found himself the subject of a barrage of criticism. Suddenly, things aren't looking so exciting in the galaxy far, far away. (Although some hot takes are probably taking the panic a bit too far.) What's going on in the land of the Jedi? Oh, not much. Just all this.

So, What Actually Happened with the Han Solo Movie?

Source: Anonymous insiders with, inevitably, agendas of their own

Probability of Accuracy: Who can know, really?

The Real Deal: So… exactly why were Phil Lord and Christopher Miller let go from the untitled Han Solo movie? The situation is still unfolding, but based on two early reports, it looks as if the cause was as simple as a culture clash between the directors, who favored improvisational filmmaking and a looser style, and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy and the movie's screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan, who wanted something far more faithful to the written word. Just two days after Lord and Miller were let go, Lucasfilm announced that Ron Howard will take over the movie. "We believe the highest goal of each film is to delight, carrying forward the spirit of the saga that George Lucas began 40 years ago," Kennedy said in a statement announcing Howard as the new director, adding that the studio was "thrilled" to have him onboard. "We have a wonderful script, an incredible cast and crew, and the absolute commitment to make a great movie," she said. After a brief hiatus to let Howard review the work done to date, production will resume July 10, according to Lucasfilm.

Related Stories

There's a Specific Episode IX Set-Up In The Last Jedi

Source: Internet speculation based on a tease from director Colin Trevorrow

Probability of Accuracy: The speculation is, at best, 50/50, but there are moving parts beyond this quote…

The Real Deal: During an appearance on MTV's Happy Sad Confused podcast, Episode IX director Colin Trevorrow was asked if he requested that anything to be changed in The Last Jedi to pave the way for his follow-up. "There was one little thing," he said in response. "It wasn’t an adjustment, it was just 'Could you shoot this one extra thing while you’re in this place on this day?' And [director Rian Johnson] did, which was great." This has led people to believe that there's gong to be something in The Last Jedi that was inserted to directly set up the next movie in the sequence. But it's also possible that Johnson has filmed something that won't be seen until Episode IX. No matter what scenario ends up being true, though, fans probably won't know about it until 2019, when Episode IX reaches theaters. But will Trevorrow still be directing that movie? That's open to question, because the genuinely appalling reviews for his current movie The Book of Henry have people wondering if Lucasfilm might ditch him in favor of another director. Given what just happened on the Han Solo movie, suddenly that doesn't seem that unlikely.

Lego Has Spoiled The Last Jedi

Source: Internet leaks

Probability of Accuracy: The images certainly seem legit, but it's unclear what they're actually revealing about the movie itself.

The Real Deal: Speaking of The Last Jedi, some leaks of upcoming Lego tie-ins have revealed that fans will get to see an all-black evil BB-8 (referred to as BB-9E in the leaks, but it's hard to tell if that's legit), as well as an entirely different look for Supreme Leader Snoke that looks… well, not unlike the outfits worn by Qui-Gon Jinn and Luke Skywalker in earlier movies. Is this just the casual look of the Star Wars galaxy, or is there some larger connection to be made? Fans will know when the movie hits theaters in December.

It's Not Easy Being a Stormtrooper

Source: An official preview courtesy of USA Today

Probability of Accuracy: It's an official preview of a new in-canon story. That's as accurate as it gets, really.

The Real Deal: Ahead of the book's July 25 release, USA Today published an excerpt of the first chapter of Star Wars Battlefront II: Inferno Squad, the official prose tie-in/prequel to the upcoming Battlefront II videogame, giving a short glimpse of what it was like to be a stormtrooper during the final days of the Empire. (Spoiler alert: Not that glamorous.) The excerpt also reveals what it's like for stormtroopers to watch the destruction of a Death Star, as well.

It's Still Not Easy Being a Stormtrooper (But It Does Look Kinda Fun)

Source: Two new videos from the Battlefront II game

Probability of Accuracy: Not only a high probability of accuracy, but also a high potential for awesomeness.

The Real Deal: In other Star Wars: Battlefront II news, there's a fresh trailer for the game that shows off a battle across Theed (Naboo's royal city from Episode I: The Phantom Menace):

If that's not enough, there's also this extended gameplay video:

Developer EA also announced that all DLCs for Battlefront II will be free, with design director Niklas Fegraeus saying the decision was in keeping with the spirit of Star Wars. "If you’re a fan, you’re a part of the family," he said in a statement. "And splitting that up and saying, ‘If you have this content you can play here, but if you have this content you can play here.’ And if you don’t share, you will be split up. What we wanted to do was have a journey that starts at the launch of the game." And why is that good news? Because the first DLC will feature Finn and Captain Phasma as playable characters, as well as Crait, the new planet glimpsed in the Last Jedi trailer. See? Now you're interested. The game hits shelves this November.

CULTURE