A behind the scenes snap shot of the new Han Solo movie. Photo / Instagram
A behind the scenes snap shot of the new Han Solo movie. Photo / Instagram
By Fred Heffer.
As if there wasn't enough interest in a new Star Wars movie already, the still untitled Han Solo spin-off came in for the wrong kind of attention last month when directing pair Phil Lord and Christopher Miller left the project and were replaced quickly by Ron Howard.
Luckily for Disney, science fiction and space aren't foreign to Howard's filmography, nor is he unacquainted with what Star Wars fans have come to expect from Lucasfilm's mostly secretive production process.
His Instagram and Twitter accounts have since begun turning out set photos, from behind and in front of the cameras. If you want over-analysis of costumes, backgrounds and characters, you've come to the right place.
On July 11, Howard uploaded a picture of a character's wardrobe, inviting his followers to confirm the obvious: these clothes belonged to Han Solo's friend Lando Calrissian (played by Donald Glover), whose original trilogy appearances were rarely cape-free.
This probably means: on a costume level, the film is going to be to Donald Glover what Casino was to Robert de Niro.
Mild speculation: those coat hangers look slightly far far away. Is the wardrobe department well-funded or are we going to get an MTV Cribs-influenced scene in the movie where Lando shows Han and Chewbacca his extensive walk-in closet and warns the Wookiee not to moult on anything?
Insane speculation: Howard is totally out of his depth concerning the source material, and disguised his lack of knowledge about the characters with a facetious rhetorical question, in the hope that someone could tell him.
Then came this. Filmmaking is of course a collaborative medium, and who wouldn't want to solicit Chewbacca's advice on setting up shots over say, the actual head of photography?
But the Wookiee isn't the only exciting detail here, at least not his appearance on the left.
In the monitor on the right, he can be spotted again. Is that another of his species opposite?
This probably means: a scene of exchanged bear, lion, badger and walrus noises that provides more of an emotional slap than it has any obligation to.
Mild speculation: here's to bet that the Wookiees are bidding sad farewells to each other as the Empire moves in to persecute their furry community.
Insane speculation: Ron Howard is such a Star Wars purist, the only films that matter to him influence-wise are the first two. 1977's original and 1978's Holiday Special.
Once again, a Howardian camera trick. Is the giant hyperspace field projection really what the director wants us to focus on?
A glance at the monitors clearly showed Glover's Calrissian, seated in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon.
This probably means: before Solo won it allegedly "fair and square", the ship was the pride and joy of Mr Calrissian. Now the story of his ownership can be told.
Mild speculation: is Lando alone when he does this? Did Han Solo and Chewbacca get a ride off him the same way Luke and Obi-Wan did in A New Hope?
Insane speculation: Alden Ehrenreich's portrayal of Han Solo was as catastrophic as feared, and Howard was brought in to reshoot the film as a Lando-centric spin-off.
Hence the lack of an official title for the movie. Hence why we've seen so much Lando. It all makes sense.
While making the first film, George Lucas's favourite directions for his actors were "faster!" and "more intense!" For Ron Howard, it seems to be "More Lando".
This probably means: Han Solo is really going to have to earn his place in the pilot's seat.
Mild speculation: what's the significance of the huge backgrounds with the monitor shots?
Could this be a planet? Is it being used to give actors something to act against, in the way that Christopher Nolan put star fields outside his spaceship sets on Interstellar?
Insane speculation:the Millennium Falcon has pulled up at a galactic modern art installation, and Lando is going to examine it harder than Alan Ruck did that Seurat painting in Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
