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‘Solo’: Ron Howard on Wanting the Film’s Action to Be a Test for Han

By Steven Weintraub

Published May 23, 2018

Plus, he reveals one of the scenes he cut from the film and talks about where the idea to do a young Han Solo movie came from.

With Solo: A Star Wars Story opening this weekend, I recently sat down with director Ron Howard for a video interview. During our brief conversation he talked about where the idea to do a young Han Solo movie came from, the tone of the movie, Chris Miller and Phil Lord’s involvement, how he wanted all the action in the film to test Han Solo, how they only lost one or two scenes in the editing room (one of them was Han Solo in flight school), and a lot more.

As most of you know, Solo takes place before the first Star Wars movie and follows a young Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich) as he befriends his future copilot Chewbacca (Suotamo) and meets the notorious gambler Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover). Solo also stars Emilia Clarke, Woody Harrelson, Paul Bettany, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Joonas Suotamo, Joonas Suotamo, Jon Favreau, and Thandie Newton. Solo: A Star Wars Story opens in theaters on May 25th.

solo-a-star-wars-story-lando-donald-glover — Image via Lucasfilm

Check out what Ron Howard had to say in the layer above and below is exactly what we talked about followed by some recent coverage on the film.

Ron Howard:

How long was his first cut compared to the finished film?
What was cut out of the film? Reveals they only lost one or two scenes.
What was the last thing he cut out of the film and why?
Filming the train sequence and where the idea came from to do a young Han Solo movie?
Talks about the tone of the movie and Chris Miller and Phil Lord’s involvement.
How he wanted all the action to test Han Solo and what role it might play in shaping his future.

For more on Solo: A Star Wars Story:

Here’s the official synopsis for Solo: A Star Wars Story:

Board the Millennium Falcon and journey to a galaxy far, far away in “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” an all-new adventure with the most beloved scoundrel in the galaxy. Through a series of daring escapades deep within a dark and dangerous criminal underworld, Han Solo befriends his mighty future copilot Chewbacca and meets the notorious gambler Lando Calrissian, in a journey that will set the course of one of the Star Wars saga’s most unlikely heroes.