Star Wars Han Solo Spin-Off Star Denies Reshoots Were That Extensive

Earlier this week it was reported that the reshoots on the upcoming Star Wars spin-off Solo: A Star Wars Story were so extensive that up to 80 percent of the movie might have been filmed again by replacement director Ron Howard. Now, co-star Thandie Newton has spoken about the situation and suggested that far more of the footage filmed by original director Phil Lord and Chris Miller will be included in the final film.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Westworld star Newton said that very few of her scenes were reshot. „Apart from the initial shock and feeling bad for [Lord and Miller] not being able to finish their work, their work is everywhere in it,“ she said. „Ninety percent of my stuff is with them. And it certainly wasn’t about, ‚Oh we have to start again and do it all over.'“

Newton went on to speak about Howard taking over from Lord and Miller, who were fired from the production in June, and described Solo as a „collaboration“ between them.

„I love Phil and Chris–everybody loves Phil and Chris–they’re so brilliant,“ she said. „Ron and the guys were talking to each other. As far as I’m concerned what’s on screen, in the end, is going to be an amazing collaboration. It’s a massive piece. We see so often now there are two directors working on pictures. We already had two with Phil and Chris. Now there’s three.

„With a project like that where it’s a vision that’s been created over so many years, that’s so expansive, I think it’s less about things going wrong than getting more help to bring it into the best position it can be in. I really like Ron though, he’s very sweet. And [the film is] dope; it’s so cool!“

Even if the reshoots were less extensive than initially thought, there is no doubt that the length of Howard’s production was far longer than the few weeks of reshoots that were initially suggested. Production recommenced in June and didn’t finish until mid-October. In addition, the scale of the reshoots meant that at least one role had to be recast, with Paul Bettany replacing Michael K. Williams.

Solo: A Star Wars Story stars Alden Ehrenreich as Han Solo and Joonas Suotamo as Chewbacca, with Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian. Woody Harrelson, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and Emilia Clarke also star. It hits theaters on May 25, 2018.