It may have grossed nearly $400 million at the box office and garnered generally positive reviews from critics, but Solo: A Star Wars Story is viewed as a minor regret in the eyes of Kathleen Kennedy.
It was announced on Friday that the producer, who was the president of Lucasfilm, would be stepping down after 14 years in the role. With work on the Indiana Jones and Jurassic Park franchises in addition to Star Wars, it’s been quite the career.
In an interview with Deadline, which touched on several milestones from her career, Kennedy admitted that she had some regrets regarding Solo, the 2018 spin-off which served as the origin story for beloved character Han Solo.
“I brought [screenwriter] Larry Kasdan in, and we were so excited about that idea,” she said. “Then, when you’re into something, you realise fundamentally [and] conceptually, you cannot replace Han Solo – at least right now.
“As wonderful as Alden Ehrenreich was – he really was good and is a wonderful actor – we put him in an impossible situation. Once you’re in it and you’re committed, you’ve got to carry on.”
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“I think I have a bit of regret about that, but not about the moviemaking and filmmaking. I don’t have regrets about that. I just think that conceptually, we did it too soon,” reasoned Kennedy, whose debut production credit was 1982’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
Solo, which was directed by Ron Howard, saw Ehrenreich step into the big shoes that were left by Harrison Ford as he played a younger version of the iconic character, with the supporting cast including Donald Glover and Emilia Clarke.
While Kennedy has now departed Lucasfilm, the company is still planning several works in the long-running sci-fi franchise, with numerous projects at various stages of development in the production cycle.
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One of those in limbo is New Jedi Order, which sees Daisy Ridley reprise her role as Rey in a story set 15 years after the events of The Rise of Skywalker. In the new project, the character is set to train a new generation of Jedis.
“Over the years, I’ve learned how the reality of getting any film made is so massive,” said Ridley of the upcoming film. “The hurdles are vast… But with this particularly, I know that incredible voices and creatives are part of it – the wait will be worth it.”
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Reporter, Digital Spy George is a freelance writer who specialises in Movies and TV. After graduating with a degree in Film Studies and Journalism from De Montfort University, in which he analysed the early works of Richard Linklater for his dissertation, he wrote for several websites for GRV Media. His film tastes vary from blockbusters like Mission: Impossible and John Wick to international directors such as Paolo Sorrentino and Hirokazu Kore-eda, and has attended both the London and Berlin film festivals.