In 1972, George Lucas and Ron Howard had an eerie portentious conversation, where Lucas, then 28 years old, casually shared a very raw idea about Star Wars. “He (George) told me he wanted to use the special effects that Stanley Kubrick introduced in Space Odyssey and do a Flash Gordon kind of sci-fi movie, where things move fast, instead of slow. He wanted an entire universe, with lots of aliens,” Howard shares, adding, “It was a one-minute description of what would go on to be Star Wars.”
Four decades later, Howard came on board the Star Wars universe, with his first movie for the franchise, Solo: A Star Wars Story. Expectations are high from Howard, one of the most versatile directors in Hollywood (Apollo 13 and A Beautiful Mind), but he admits that there is one big challenge to overcome — “to deal with the iconic status of Harrison Ford”, who played Han Solo in the original Star Wars movies. Ahead of the release of the movie, we catch up with the director to find out more about young Han Solo and what this movie means to the legacy of the celebrated franchise.
Howard admits that it was exciting for him to think about what made Han Solo a cult figure, but also clarifies that this is not an origin story, per se. “It’s more of an early rite of passage. It hits a lot of those grace notes that fans want. But there are a lot of opportunities to track this emotional, psychological evolution of young Han Solo and understand this as a defining experience. The gauntlet that he goes through is something that sends him on the road to being the Han Solo that we’re more familiar with.”
An integral part of Han Solo’s journey is his witty and smart sidekick, Chewbacca. Talking about the appeal of the character, the director says, “Not only is Chewie an important co-pilot and a powerful figure to have in the trenches with you, but he also does have a conscience. It is that quiet, barely articulated but demonstrated nobility that Han learns from Chewie.”
Being the thorough professional that he is, Howard had a lengthy chat with Harrison Ford about the character, before he began filming. “It was really interesting to have a chat with Harrison, who’s such a thoughtful actor, about what he felt makes Han tick. He also said that it is very important to actually finally understand that Han is an orphan. Orphans are paradoxes; they’re both needy and selfish and both these aspects were built into the script.”
Howard says that the movie inspired him more as a film-lover than a filmmaker. “Star Wars inspired me as a lover of cinema but it was so far beyond what I imagined I could really understand and do as a director. But it certainly has made me dream,” he adds.