Solo: A Star Wars Story
Short description
Solo: A Star Wars Story follows a young Han Solo, a headstrong pilot who has been expelled from the flight academy and drifts into a life of smuggling. Recruited by the shady criminal Tobias Beckett, he takes on a dangerous job within the galaxy's criminal underworld. Along the way he meets the Wookiee Chewbacca, who becomes his loyal partner, and crosses paths with the gambler Lando Calrissian. The film is a prequel to the original Star Wars trilogy, showing how Han began his career as a smuggler before the events that brought him together with Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Ron Howard directed the film, the twenty-sixth of thirty-two features in his directing career in chronological order, following The Beatles: Eight Days a Week - The Touring Years and preceding Hillbilly Elegy. Lawrence Kasdan and Jonathan Kasdan wrote the screenplay, and Kathleen Kennedy, Allison Shearmur and Simon Emanuel produced. Alden Ehrenreich plays Han, with Joonas Suotamo as Chewbacca, Woody Harrelson as Beckett, Emilia Clarke as Qi'ra, Donald Glover as Lando and Thandiwe Newton as Val, among a credited cast of 107 and crew of 283.
Released in 2018, the film runs 135 minutes. Against a budget of 250 million US dollars, it earned about 393 million worldwide. On IMDb it holds 6.9/10 from roughly 407,000 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 6.6/10 from about 9,500 votes. A critics' rating of 6.4/10 from 489 reviews places it somewhat below the audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- It is claimed that Ron Howard was offered the opportunity to direct “Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace” (George Lucas, 1999), but he declined. Eighteen years later, he accepted the offer to direct this film, although it took some convincing from his wife, Cheryl Howard, who said that if he refused again, he would regret it for the rest of his life.
- The casting of Han Solo was the longest since Universal searched for an actor to play Christian Grey in the melodrama "Fifty Shades of Grey."
- The worn-out Wookies in the mines on the planet Kessel were created using a mold of Chewbacca's head and applying various combinations of colors, bald spots, and scars to emphasize the differences between individuals and the hardships and trials they had endured.
- In June 2017, with the majority of the work on the project already completed (only three weeks of principal photography remained), Phil Lord and Christopher Miller left the project. Lord and Miller had significant disagreements with producer Kathleen Kennedy, screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan, and other members of Lucasfilm regarding the direction and overall tone of the film. Miller and Lord favored actor improvisation and wanted more humor in the film, while Kasdan preferred the actors to adhere more closely to the script. To complete the project, director Ron Howard was brought on board. However, Howard ultimately reshot over 80 percent of the footage.
- Darth Maul's appearance was kept top secret, so Ray Park, the actor who played him, was transported to Pinewood Studios in a limousine with tinted windows and filmed in a section of the set isolated from everyone else.
- The scars on the face of the character played by Paul Bettany (who plays Dryden Vos) were added during post-production. According to the actor himself, he had no idea about this detail until director Ron Howard sent him a picture.
- According to Ron Howard, he considers his wife Cheryl Howard his lucky charm and consistently tries to give her at least a cameo in all his films. She also filmed a scene for this film, but it was ultimately cut. Howard once complained about this to his friends – special effects artists from Industrial Light & Magic. They then filmed her against a green screen and inserted the image into the scene in the spaceport when Han is looking at a hologram. Cheryl Howard can be seen in the crowd (in the place of the droid demonstrating the hologram).
- Han talks to Chewbacca in Wookiee language. This is the first time someone other than a Wookiee speaks the language, and the first time a translation of it is shown on screen with subtitles.
- This is the first film in which Chewbacca has one of the leading roles. Therefore, 8 costumes and 10 heads were created for him.
- The first actor that directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller considered for the role of young Han Solo was Alden Ehrenreich. In July 2016, the directors admitted that other actors also auditioned and were suitable for the role, however, "that very first guy was the best." Ultimately, Ehrenreich was approved for the role.
- Han Solo has a scar on his chin, which is only barely visible in certain angles. The scar was applied to the actor by makeup artists, recreating the scar on Harrison Ford’s face, which is visible in all films of the “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones” franchises.
- A whole year was spent brainstorming and creating the famous helmet worn by Enfys Nest. Some of its early sketches were used for the helmets of the Cloud Riders.
- The Corellian hounds were brought to life using real dogs in special costumes and puppets, as well as special effects (animated facial movements).
- Initially, Josh Trank was slated to direct the film following “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” (Gareth Edwards, 2016), but those plans fell through due to the complete box office failure of his film “Fantastic Four” (2015).
- The exterior sets of the starship "Millennium Falcon" weighed 31 tons and were moved using cranes.
- Harrison Ford said he had seen the film and really enjoyed it, but he didn't attend the premiere so as not to overshadow Alden Ehrenreich, who played young Han Solo.
- The droid L3-37’s appearance is due to a combination of props and computer effects. The actress playing the role, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, wore a costume consisting of the droid’s head, chest, legs, and arms, with a tight-fitting green suit underneath. During post-production, the green suit was digitally removed and replaced with mechanical elements (such as wires and cables).
- Operator Bradford Young worked closely with the company "Panavision". This is how he acquired old lenses, which he used to age the image. Among other things, Young removed the anti-reflective coating from the lenses and made some other changes so that the picture didn't look too perfect and flawless.
- Alden Ehrenreich brought a manual for operating the Millennium Falcon to the set to figure out the sequence and which buttons to press on the control panel during the takeoff scene.
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