Ron Howard details how he became involved in directing 'Solo'

Lord and Miller were brought on to direct the prequel film about a young Han Solo — a spinoff concept that should have been a slam dunk. Instead, it went sideways. One day, Howard was invited to lunch by then-Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy and the film’s co-screenwriter Jonathan Kasdan. The purpose of the meeting was clear: convince Howard to take over for Lord and Miller.

They basically said, "We’ve reached a creative impasse with Lord and Miller. Would you ever consider coming in?" I looked at some edited footage, and I saw what was bothering them. There was a studio that liked the script the way it was and wanted a "Star Wars" movie, but there was a disconnect early on tonally, and they weren’t convinced that what Phil and Chris were doing was working effectively.

The seed planted, Howard pressed on.

I couldn’t judge that because I didn’t see enough of it to know. But they were sure. Once I said, "Okay, I think I can do this script, and I think I understand what you want of this script," they said, "We’d want to reshoot a lot."

Then, Howard brought the anecdote in for a landing with some classic Hollywood Nice Guy stuff.

I looked at the whole movie and then pointed out some things that I thought were great. And Phil and Chris were incredibly gracious throughout that process. They were just seeing two different movies. So I came in, I had a blast, but there’s nothing personal about that film whatsoever. It’s still just a shame. I can’t wait for Phil and Chris’s next movie.

Well, Howard won't have to wait too long to see Phil and Chris's next movie...

It’s telling to hear Howard lament that there was ‘nothing personal’ about the movie, especially since that seems to be exactly what Kennedy and company wanted. 'Solo' was clearly a failure and whether it was Lord, Miller, Howard, Kennedy, or other forces at play, it set back the franchise quite a bit. 

(h/t Variety)