Ron Howard will direct the Star Wars: Han Solo film

Ron Howard has been called on by Lucasfilm to direct the Han Solo Star Wars standalone film…

Well, that was fast. Lucasfilm wasted no time in naming a new director to the Han Solo Star Wars story, as rumors that Academy Award-winning director Ron Howard would step in to right the ship, have now been confirmed.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, an official announcement from Lucasfilm is expected today, Thursday, June 22, naming Howard the successor to Lord and Miller who were fired earlier in the week. THR says that Howard is quickly jumping in and meeting with the cast.

"Howard, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter, will meet with the actors — Alden Ehrenreich is playing the iconic smuggler, Donald Glover is playing Lando Calrissian, with Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke and Thandie Newton also on the roll call — to soothe a rattled set and will pore over a rough edit to see what the project has and still needs."

UPDATE: Lucasfilm has made it official!

Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy had this to say: “We’re thrilled to announce that Ron Howard will step in to direct the untitled Han Solo film. We have a wonderful script, an incredible cast and crew, and the absolute commitment to make a great movie. Filming will resume the 10th of July.”

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Naming Howard as the new director of the film is exactly what Lucasfilm needed to do, once Lord and Miller were ousted from the project. As well as bringing the clout of winning an Oscar for A Beautiful Mind to Han Solo, Howard also has several ties to George Lucas.

As an actor, Howard appeared in Lucas’ American Graffiti, he then directed Lucas’ Willow, and according to THR, revealed that Lucas had approached him to direct the very first Star Wars prequel film — The Phantom Menace. So, as you can see, Howard should have no problem bringing a Lucas created character to the big screen in his solo (pun intended) film debut.

Star Wars: Han Solo is slated to film for three and a half more weeks, with five weeks of reshoots scheduled after that. For now, the film is scheduled to hit theaters in May of 2018.