Tag: ron howard

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George Lucas helped direct a small part of Solo

No coverage of Solo: A Star Wars Story would be complete without asking on the film’s turmoulous director issues, and Entertainment Weekly does go there, with the usual vague and polite responses from Kathleen Kennedy and Ron Howard on the issue of original directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller.

But the story begins and ends with George Lucas and Ron Howard, from American Graffiti to the set of Solo where – on Howard’s very first day – Lucas came to visit.

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Solo’s L3-37 is “a completely different kind of droid”

Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s droid L3-37 in Solo: A Star Wars Story is “a self-modified droid,” co-writer Jon Kasdan tells Entertainment Weekly. “The idea is that she’s sort of a mutt, if you will, of various parts of different kinds of droids who has improved upon herself.”

“She’s a complete individual in the galaxy,” Jon Kasdan says. “We wanted to have it be a completely different kind of droid than you’ve ever seen in the movies. And we definitely wanted it to be a female. We thought it was more than time for that.”

She has a “working relationship with Lando” that is “very sophisticated” and has evolved over the years, Lawrence Kasdan says.

She’s very smart and advanced for a droid, “and Phoebe is hilarious and brilliant and really helped bring that character to life in ways that are funny and surprising,” Ron Howard says.

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How Harrison Ford pitched in on Solo

Harrison Ford may have finished up his run as Han Solo, but he did have some input on Solo, in the form of insight on the character.

“What [Ford] did so beautifully for Alden was he talked a lot about what he remembered when he first read Star Wars, and what George had done with Han. Who the character was and the conversations he had for so many years with George about how that character developed,” [Kathleen] Kennedy says. “He gave Alden that kind of insight which was invaluable. There were several times in the course of making the movie where Alden would actually recount some of the things that Harrison had pointed out. I think that was really, really helpful to him.”

We also get confirmation that Solo is keeping Han’s backstory as an orphan, and how that played into his bond with Rey in The Force Awakens.

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Tag and Bink are coming to an untitled Han Solo movie near you

Ron Howard’s first really big reveal! For the purposes of our old-ass EU fan blog, anyway.

Tag and Bink are in the Han Solo movie. They’re played by Jon Kasdan (left,) who confirms it, and assistant director Toby Hefferman.)

The pair originate in the 2001 Tag & Bink Are Dead comics which are, technically, part of Legends. (Though even there the comics were considered “Infinities,” which today makes them doubly non-canon.) How much makes it to screen (and canon..?) Well, probably not much. But that’s fitting.

Technicalities aside, the original Tag and Bink comics (by Star Wars Tales MVP Kevin Rubio) are among the highlights of Dark Horse’s run with the license. They’re totally worth a read, require nothing at all in knowledge of the vast Expanded Universe, and are really, really funny. I don’t think there’s been any physical reprints since the comics license changeover to Marvel, but the collection is available on Comixology.

Honestly, this is exactly the kind of EU appearance I expect in this film: Brief and irreverent.

More recent stuff from Howard under the cut. Continue reading “Tag and Bink are coming to an untitled Han Solo movie near you”

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The Han Solo film will (finally) show us Corellia

Looks like the Han Solo film will finally take us to Corellia. “Those #Corellian nights get a little chilly,” director Ron Howard tweets. “Screenwriter @JonKasdan and I try to keep warm.” We’ve seen the burning droid a few times in Howard’s shares from the set, but the confirmation that we’ll finally see Han’s home planet on screen? Priceless.

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