The highly anticipated Star Wars Han Solo film has lost its directorial duo.
According to the The Hollywood Reporter, Phil Lord and Chris Miller have left the project, which was announced back in July 2015. THR adds that the film is already in production, with its cast and crew assembled in London. Even without a director, the film's premiere date of 25th May 2018, will still stand.
"Unfortunately, our vision and process weren't aligned with our partners on this project. We normally aren't fans of the phrase 'creative differences,' but for once this cliché is true. We are really proud of the amazing and world-class work of our cast and crew," reads a statement from Phil Lord and Christopher Miller.
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Lord and Miller, known for The Lego Movie and the rebooted 21 Jump Street films, have been working on set since February. The show must go on, however, and the cast will continue working with an as-yet-unnamed director for the next few weeks and through reshoots scheduled for later this summer.
"Phil Lord and Christopher Miller are talented filmmakers who have assembled an incredible cast and crew, but it’s become clear that we had different creative visions on this film, and we’ve decided to part ways," Kathleen Kennedy, president of Lucasfilm, said in a statement. "A new director will be announced soon."
The AV Club notes that things seemed to be going well up to this point, so the cited "creative differences" must have been a recent development. Kennedy's statement probably won't do much to stop fans from worrying about the film's ultimate fate, however. After what happened with Star Wars: Rogue One, with Gareth Edwards stepping down and Tony Gilroy rewriting and reshooting the film, it looks like a few behind-the-scenes hurdles are de rigueur in a galaxy far, far away.
The cast, including Alden Ehrenreich (Han Solo) and Donald Glover (Lando Calrissian), haven't commented on the situation.