New film’s many stumbles suggest the difficulty of bringing balance to a cinematic universe
It is no secret that Disney intends to make Star Wars films from now until the end of time. There are so many upcoming Star Wars projects that it’s impossible to keep track of them all. Recently, Lucasfilm announced that the creators of Game of Thrones, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, will be writing and producing their own Star Wars film series, with the exact number of films being unclear at this time.
This series is in no way related to the trilogy Rian Johnson will also be making for the legendary franchise. With all this new information surrounding the Star Wars franchise, it’s almost easy to forget that their new standalone film, Solo: A Star Wars Story, is set to be released in May. However, after the recent trailer for the film aired during the Super Bowl, a lot more people are starting to talk about it.
But why did the trailer take this long to come out? It seems odd considering how close it is to the movie’s release date. However, it’s no surprise given the constant stream of bad news coming out of the film’s set. For one, the two directors who started making Solo, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, left mid-production — the reason Disney gave for this odd departure was “creative differences.”Some reports have made it clear that these “creative differences” were based on the studio wanting to focus more on the script, whereas Lord and Miller wanted to stretch their legs and create their own unique film. Either way, Solo now has Ron Howard as its director.
And the shuffling around of directors is not the films’ only problem; an acting coach was brought in for Alden Ehrenreich, a.k.a. Han Solo himself, last minute. Many fans were already concerned that Ehrenreich couldn’t pull off a perfect performance like Harrison Ford’s; add in an acting coach and those fans are ready to sign this film’s death warrant.
But now that the trailer is finally out… have initial fears turned into possible hopes? It may be too early to gauge the reactions of the entire fanbase, but it does seem like people are genuinely hopeful that the movie has potential. Fans have vocalized their excitement for Donald Glover as Lando, and a small segment of the fanbase have cut Ehrenreich some slack for the tough position he’s in with this impossible role.
The trailer itself had some promising moments, even if it did look like a Marvel trailer at times (and yes, looking like Marvel is a bad thing). The trailer was action-packed and included a few Easter eggs for fans, along with some familiar faces like Chewbacca. The new trailer also featured Emilia Clarke and Woody Harrelson’s new characters. As odd as it will be seeing Emilia Clarke, a.k.a. “Daenerys” from Game of Thrones, in this new universe, it is exciting to see an established actor join the Star Wars family. Hopefully this film does justice to the endless potential of these new characters, as well as to the age-old heroes that we know and love.
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