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LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy told Vanity Fair that the company has learned never to recast iconic “Star Wars” characters following the flop that was “Solo: A Star Wars Story.” The Ron Howard-directed 2018 movie cast Alden Ehrenreich as a younger version of Han Solo, the hot-shot space pilot famously brought to life by Harrison Ford. Many critics and fans felt Ehrenreich just couldn’t capture Ford’s magic.
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“There should be moments along the way when you learn things,” Kennedy sad. “Now it does seem so abundantly clear that we can’t do that.”
Ehrenreich, stating: “He is enduringly watchable: He nails Ford’s cocky gait, his roguish eye-twinkle, his puffed-cheeked finger-pointing, and while the performance may initially come across as a highly skilled bit of mimicry, by the film’s end he’s managed to give the role a satisfying new spin. Few would object if Ehrenreich were to reprise the character in future instalments (“The Young Han Solo Chronicles”? “Wookiee and the Bandit”?), but a scruffy, nerf-herding smuggler like Han needs room to stretch and make trouble.”
“Solo” opened over Memorial Day weekend in 2018 and brought the “Star Wars” film franchise to a new low after it bombed at the box office with just $392 million worldwide. The film carried a near $300 million production budget. Howard once told the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast that the response to “Solo” was “disappointing.”
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“It made a lot of money, it just didn’t live up to expectations,” Howard said. “I came in eager to help, felt like I could, and had a blast. Normally it takes three years, I worked eight months and had an experience. I feel very good about the way it turned out. I loved the way it played to audiences, which I witnessed. All of that I am able to feel good about.”
Howard admitted the film was maybe “too nostalgic,” adding, ” going back and revisiting an origin story for a beloved character may not be what the fans were looking for. It seemed to me looking at the opening, big but not as big as the others, I think that was the hardcore fans. (The drop-off) tells you how many people are tagalongs who need to wait to see what people think or if it’s essential, if it’s a zeitgeist movie or not. It didn’t hit the zeitgeist, for whatever reason.”
