Star Wars is more popular now than ever. With the current trend of cinematic world building, moviegoers have been coming out in mass not only to see the main episodic installments but also to support the new standalone entries. If you don’t think so, see last year’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which grossed more than a billion dollars worldwide.

With that kind of financial support from fans, the answer is an easy “Yes” to the question “Will they make another one?” In fact, the next spinoff set in a galaxy far, far away will center around a young Han Solo and is currently deep into principal photography. That’s the actual filming part for you not in the know.

Also for those of you not in the know, dynamic directing duo Phil Lord and Chris Miller (The LEGO Movie, 21 & 22 Jump Street) were in the midst of shooting the bloody thing from a script they co-wrote with Star Wars veteran Lawrence Kasdan when President of LucasFilm Kathleen Kennedy fired them. That news came two days ago and almost immediately LucasFilm had a shortlist of replacement directors.

Rumor had it that atop this shortlist was none other than Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind, Apollo 13, Rush). Well, it appears those rumors are true. As of today, The Hollywood Reporter is– well, reporting– that Howard has indeed landed the job as the new pilot for the Millennium Falcon. Principal photography is scheduled to continue for three-and-a-half more weeks with five weeks of reshoots planned.

The young Han Solo film features Alden Ehrenreich as the iconic space outlaw, Donald Glover as frenemy Lando Calrissian, and Woody Harrelson as Solo’s mentor. The film also stars Emilia Clarke and Thandie Newton. So far the release date has not been pushed back and is still slated for a May 25, 2018 release.

Thoughts

Howard is a safe bet for LucasFilm. At this point in the game, it’s apparent Kathleen Kennedy and company’s goal is salvaging what they’ve built with Lord and Miller. Howard is veteran and a consummate professional. He’ll be able to come in and get the job done without ruffling any proverbial feathers. Howard’s spent most of his life in the studio system and even won himself a couple of Oscars on different sides of the camera so he knows how to play ball.

Also, there’s a lot of speculation and hoopla being made about how exactly LucasFilm will credit the direction of this film and understandably so. This is, after all, an unprecedented moment in movies. If I had to put money on it, I’d say that Ron Howard will get the directing credit while Lord and Miller will get the directing credit.

Obviously there isn’t an example I can point to as to why I think this will be the case, but it kind of makes sense. Lord and Miller were fired from the project after all and Howard could go back during reshoots and change a lot of the pair’s original vision.

That’s just us, though. What do you all think about this? How should LucasFilm credit the direction on this film and what do you think about Ron Howard taking over? Sound off in the comments below! We want to hear from you.