Star Wars franchise creator George Lucas still has strong feelings about his original characters would do or should say. When Ron Howard appeared on The Late Show on Thursday, he revealed that Lucas suggested a joke during the shoot of Solo: A Star Wars Story that Howard eventually filmed.
How Lucas Changed a Scene with a Joke
When Lucas dropped by set one day, Howard said, “Everybody’s jaws drop, it’s like snapping to attention.” Lucas is pretty hands-off on the franchise at this point, but he did tell Howard as a scene was in the midst of being shot, “You know what Han would really do here,” and shared a joke he thought would play well.
Howard said that he immediately told the actors they were going to switch up the scene and realize Lucas’ idea. “I know when I hear a good idea,” he said.
There’s no word if the joke actually made it into the film’s final cut.
Howard also discussed when Lucas first told him the idea for the original Star Wars on the set of their 1973 film American Graffitti, in which Howard the actor played a major role. “I didn’t get it at all,” he said, before sharing that he saw the film twice in one day once he did check it out.
Replacement Director
Howard also explained that he was initially cautious about becoming the third director to try his hand at Solo. Howard is the second director of Solo: A Star Wars Story in June 2017 after the original co-directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller were fired months into the project due to “creative differences.”
“No people want to be part of a situation like that,” he said, mentioning the creative differences. But he said the screenplay changed his mind: “I loved it, I loved the story, it surprised me.”
“The Star Wars universe that we see in Solo was different from anything else we’ve seen in any previous Star Wars movies,” he said “The Empire controls everything. Everyone is struggling to survive, but we discover this incredible free spirit.”
Solo follows a young Solo (played by Alden Ehrenreich) when he first meets Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo) and Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover) in the criminal underworld.
Tickets for Solo: A Star Wars Story, which opens May 25, go on sale on Friday.
