Revisiting the only box office bomb in Star Wars history.
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00:00Though Solo certainly has its passionate defenders and cheerleaders, it's surely the least-discussed
00:05live-action Star Wars movie to date, enough that you probably don't know enough about
00:08this fascinating production. Beyond its obvious controversies, that is. So let's take a
00:13look at them as I'm Jules, this is WhatCulture.com, and these are 20 Things You Didn't Know
00:17About Solo A Star Wars Story.
00:2120. Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Miles Teller, and many, many more were considered for Han. It
00:27won't surprise anyone to learn that original directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller undertook
00:31an extensive manhunt to find an actor to play the young Han Solo. After all, given Harrison
00:36Ford's absolutely singular presence in the role, it required an actor of equal charm
00:41and gravitas to do Han some justice. And so the directors auditioned more than 3,000 actors
00:47for the part, with some of the more prominent names including Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Miles
00:51Teller, Dave Franco, Charlie Cox, and even Chris Pratt.
00:55Curiously though, Lord and Miller claimed that Aaron Reich was the first actor that
00:59they ever auditioned for Han, and that nobody else they saw made quite the same impression.
01:03The rest, as they say, is history.
01:0619. Reshoots Bloated the Budget to $275 Million You'll almost certainly be aware that Solo
01:14switched directors many months into shooting, with the Lego movies Phil Lord and Chris Miller
01:18being dismissed after clashing with Lucasfilm producers on the film's tone and shooting
01:23style. They were replaced with Ron Howard, a safe pair of hands if ever there was one,
01:27who reportedly ended up reshooting around 70% of the movie. The extensive reshoots ended
01:32up bloating the film's budget to a stonking $275 million, causing it to rank among the
01:37most expensive films ever made. Given that even the heavily tinkered with Rogue One cost
01:42only $220 million, that was a heavy incursion of added costs, and one which meant that Solo
01:48had to gross $500 million just to break even. Which, shockingly, it didn't.
01:5418. Dryden Vos and Kira Were Originally Aliens It's not uncommon for Star Wars characters
02:00to go through numerous design iterations before the team settles on their final pick, though
02:05some of the original designs for two major characters were pretty out there. Villain
02:09Dryden Vos, played by Paul Bettany, was initially conceptualised as a dinosaur-esque, bird-like
02:14figure. But once the script introduced a love triangle between him, Kira, and Han,
02:18the obvious decision was to make him humanoid. Kira herself was also depicted as an alien
02:23in earlier designs, though in many of the concepts she still resembled a physically
02:26attractive humanoid so it wouldn't have prevented a romance with Han.
02:3017. Phoebe Waller-Bridge Hadn't Seen A Star Wars Movie Before Being Cast Phoebe Waller-Bridge
02:36gives a show-stealing performance in Solo as L3-37 Lando's sassy droid companion and
02:42navigator. However, despite her casting in the film, the actress had never seen a Star
02:47Wars movie before. During an interview with Graham Norton, she revealed that she somehow
02:51even got the audition without knowing what a droid was, and so simply just played the
02:55part as a human. But everything clicked into place once a casting director asked her to
02:59play the part more droidy while moving like a robot. Waller-Bridge noted, however, that
03:04ultimately she was asked to give a decidedly not droidy physical performance while playing
03:08her character. No word yet on whether she's actually seen the Star Wars movie since, though
03:12given that she's now actually in one, the odds are surely looking better.
03:1716. Harrison Ford Skipped The Premiere Entirely To Keep The Attention On Alden Ehrenreich
03:23When Solo had its world premiere in Los Angeles, there was much discussion about the conspicuous
03:27absence of Harrison Ford, who many simply assumed would attend the premiere in support
03:32of the project. And though this initially sparked a round of baseless, melodramatic
03:36reports pondering Ford's possible ambivalence about the movie, it was later stated that
03:40Ford opted not to attend in order to keep the attention on the actual star of the movie.
03:45Given Ford's own admissions that he suffers from anxiety during public engagements, though,
03:49it may have been a relief for him, all things considered. Regardless, Ford did meet with
03:52Ehrenreich prior to shooting and gave him advice on embodying the character, and praised
03:57the actor's performance after viewing the film.
04:0015. Darth Maul Wasn't Included In The Original Script
04:04One of the most crowd-pleasing moments in the entire movie is Darth Maul's totally
04:08unexpected cameo at the end. Many fans were impressed at Lucasfilm's ability to keep
04:12the massive spoiler under wraps for so long, but as it turns out, Maul's appearance wasn't
04:17in the original script and added fairly late in production. Originally, the script listed
04:21the leader of the Crimson Dawn as Boss, leaving the door open for one of many fan-serving
04:26characters to fill the void. However, director Ron Howard himself lobbied hard for Maul to
04:31take the spot, resulting in the original Maul actor Ray Park being drafted in to physically
04:35portray the character once more, while the voice was provided by Sam Witwer, who has
04:39previously voiced him on both the Clone Wars and Rebels animated series.
04:4414. Han's Enlisting Scene Was Inspired By The Godfather Part II
04:49One of Solo's most maligned scenes occurs pretty early on when Han enlists in the Imperial
04:54Navy as a flight cadet and earns his surname Solo because he's on his own. It's a forced
04:59sliver of fan service that many fans understandably found a bit cringeworthy, but the scene as
05:04a whole actually has a surprisingly lofty inspiration. The scene was intended to be
05:08an homage of an iconic scene from The Godfather Part II of all movies, where nine-year-old
05:13Vito arrives at Ellis Island and has his surname changed from Andolini to Corleone. The two
05:18scenes have a faint visual resemblance for obvious reasons, but it goes without saying
05:22that Vito's naming scene is considerably more meaningful than Han's, which feels
05:26rather tacked on and unnecessary.
05:2913. Ron Howard Previously Turned Down An Offer To Direct The Phantom Menace
05:34More than 20 years before Ron Howard stepped in to finish Solo, he was offered the opportunity
05:38to helm another Star Wars movie. Back when George Lucas was writing Star Wars Episode
05:431, The Phantom Menace, he intended for a trusted fellow filmmaker to take the directing reins,
05:47offering the job to Robert Zemeckis, Steven Spielberg, and then Howard himself. Each of
05:52the three graciously rejected the offer because, in Howard's words, it would be simply too
05:56daunting, while advising Lucas to direct the prequel himself. The Phantom Menace and
06:00its follow-ups, well, they are what they are, but it's impossible not to try and imagine
06:03what they might have been with Zemeckis, Spielberg, or Howard in the driver's seat instead.
06:0812. Val Didn't Die In The Original Script If you thought that the sacrificial death
06:14of Tobias Beckett's wife Val seemed a bit sudden and unceremonious at the end of the
06:18botched Coaxium heist, that's because it actually wasn't in the original script.
06:22In a recent interview with Inverse, Tandiwe Newton confirmed that Val's fate was changed
06:27during filming, and that she was massively disappointed that one of the few prominent
06:30black characters in the franchise was killed off so swiftly. She said,
06:34"'I remember at the time thinking, this is a big mistake. Not because of me, not because
06:38I wanted to come back. You don't kill off the first black woman to ever have a real
06:42role in a Star Wars movie. Like, are you f***ing joking?''
06:4611. Christian Bale Was Considered For Tobias Beckett
06:49Though Woody Harrelson was absolutely perfectly cast as Han's roguish mentor Tobias Beckett,
06:55the part very nearly went to another A-lister instead. Turns out that Christian Bale was
06:59up for the role at one stage, and though it's never officially been confirmed why he didn't
07:02take the job, he did confirm in an interview that he loved Star Wars and very nearly accepted
07:07the offer. He said,
07:08"'Yes, it was very tempting. I not only loved the films going back to my childhood
07:12but also have a very long relationship with Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall because
07:16they did Empire of the Sun many years back. There was discussion and I hope there will
07:21be future discussions.'"
07:22This wasn't the first time that Bale had been linked to the series. His name was bandied
07:26around quite a lot when George Lucas was casting Anakin Skywalker for Attack of the Clones,
07:31as of course eventually went to Hayden Christensen. It goes without saying that Bale would have
07:34been a major credit to any Star Wars movie, so hopefully the producers will keep him in
07:38mind for a future project.
07:4110. The Imperial Combat Scenes Were Inspired By World War I
07:46The scenes earlier in the film depicting Han in the midst of combat while enlisted in the
07:49Imperial Navy were designed to be reminiscent of real world warfare. In particular, these
07:54scenes were modeled off of trench warfare from World War I. The infantry charges with
07:58devastating explosions going off around them, the trench lines, and the sheer chaos of it
08:02all clearly parallels what you'd expect to see in a more traditional war movie. Given
08:06that much of the original trilogy's aesthetic and style was influenced by World War II,
08:10even beyond the obviousness of the Empire being Nazis, it's a little poetic that this
08:14prequel lifts from World War I instead.
08:179. Michael K. Williams Originally Played Dryden Vos
08:21Paul Bettany did a fantastic job playing Dryden Vos, though another celebrated actor was not
08:26only cast in the part before him but actually shot some scenes. The great Michael K. Williams,
08:31who sadly passed away last year, was first cast as Vos and shot numerous scenes as the
08:36character while Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were directing solo. But once Ron Howard
08:40was brought in to reshoot most of the movie and Williams was called back, Williams was
08:43sadly unable to return due to scheduling issues, and so Bettany ended up taking his
08:48place. As good as Bettany was in the part, it's a damn, damn shame that we'll never
08:52get to see an actor of Williams' repute playing around in the Star Wars sandbox.
08:578. The Film Was Shot With Vintage Lenses To Create An Aged Aesthetic
09:02Solo was shot by the fantastically talented Oscar-nominated cinematographer Bradford Young,
09:07who made a bold attempt to film Solo in a style that approximated the look of the original
09:11trilogy of Star Wars movies. Young worked with Panavision to try and track down vintage
09:15lenses that would help replicate that grittier, dirtier look that he was hoping to achieve.
09:20Ultimately, Young adjusted some prime DNA lenses by removing their anti-glare coatings
09:25and detuning them. The end result speaks for itself, giving Solo a truer aesthetic relative
09:30to the original series. Even if some audiences used to watching over-lit Hollywood movies
09:35and TVs these days complained that it looked a little bit too dark, I tell you, you can't
09:39them all.
09:407. Paul Bettany Was Cast As Dryden Vos After Sending Ron Howard A Hilarious Text
09:46As mentioned before, Paul Bettany took over the role of Dryden Vos from Michael K. Williams.
09:50But as for how Bettany himself scored the gig, well, the answer is funnier and way less
09:54professional than you'd ever expect. During an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring
09:58Jimmy Fallon, Bettany confirmed that he got word of the role being available and sent
10:02Ron Howard a hilarious text. Have you ever spent the long winter evenings wondering why
10:06you're not in the Star Wars franchise? I have. Howard replied with, lol I'll get
10:11back to you, and that he certainly did.
10:146. Enfys Nest's Helmet Took Over A Year To Design
10:18Fittingly for the leader of a pirate gang known as the Cloud Riders, Nest's helmet
10:22had clearly been assembled from scavenged parts, ensuring that it perfectly informs
10:26who she is as a character and lets us know a little bit about her before she says or
10:30does anything. The film's costume designer spent roughly a year experimenting with designs
10:34for her helmet before settling on the final one. But in the interest of recycling, the
10:39rejected creations were then given to her fellow Cloud Riders instead.
10:435. Tessa Thompson, Zoe Kravitz, Jessica Henwick, And Others Auditioned For Keira
10:49As with Han, the role of female lead Keira was intensely sought after in Hollywood, with
10:53many up-and-coming actresses auditioning or being considered for the part. The role, of
10:57course, eventually went to Emilia Clarke, but before that, the likes of Tessa Thompson,
11:01Naomi Scott, Zoe Kravitz, and Jessica Henwick reportedly all had screen tests. Honestly,
11:06it sounds like the casting department had an embarrassment of riches here, and it's
11:10pretty easy to imagine just about any of these actresses fitting the bill as Keira, especially
11:13Thompson and Kravitz.
11:154. Dryden Vos' Facial Stripes Were Added Digitally
11:19As much as we all love the larger-than-life visual effects which root us so firmly in
11:23the far-flung world of Star Wars, sometimes the best and most impressive effects are the
11:28invisible ones that you don't even notice. Case in point, though you'd probably assume
11:32that Dryden Vos' facial scars were the result of painstaking practical makeup, they were
11:36actually added entirely in post. Better still, even actor Paul Bettany himself didn't know
11:41about the scars until Ron Howard sent him a photo of the completed effect during post-production.
11:453. Darth Maul Voice Actor Peter Serafinowicz Was Replaced During Post-Production
11:52As mentioned earlier, the voice of Darth Maul was provided by his animated voice actor Sam
11:56Witwer. But this wasn't originally the plan. Initially, the production sought to bring
12:01back Peter Serafinowicz, who voiced Maul in The Phantom Menace. Serafinowicz actually
12:05recorded Maul's dialogue for the film, but it was ultimately decided that his voice didn't
12:09really fit the character anymore, what with Witwer being more closely associated with
12:12Maul through his repeat appearances in animated media. Witwer said of the change in an interview
12:17with Star Wars Holocron,
12:18I don't want to say that Serafinowicz was doing bad. It just didn't sound recognizable
12:23as the character from The Phantom Menace nor the character from Clone Wars. It was a totally
12:27different thing. They need people to recognize the voice, so there it is. And yet, according
12:31to Serafinowicz, nobody at Lucasfilm opted to inform him until the film's premiere,
12:35which he evidently hadn't been invited to. Yikes.
12:392. It's the First and Only Box Office Bomb in the Star Wars Franchise
12:44Even though Solo released to a fairly muted wave of pre-release hype, it was still a massive
12:49shock when the film went on to grossly underperform at the box office, netting a worldwide total
12:54of just $392.2 million, against that rather bloated, aforementioned $275 million budget.
13:01Realistically, Solo needed to crack at least $500 million globally to be profitable, but
13:06given that The Force Awakens, Rogue One, and The Last Jedi all comfortably netted over
13:11each, it didn't seem like a particularly daunting figure. As a result, Solo became
13:15the first box office bomb in Star Wars history. Though 2008's The Clone Wars animated film
13:20only made $68.3 million worldwide, it was also produced for a mere $8.5 million, ensuring
13:26it actually turned a profit.
13:28Up until Solo's release, Star Wars seemed practically bulletproof at the box office,
13:32enough that it caused Lucasfilm and Disney to reconsider their future projects. And speaking
13:36of which...
13:37In 2001, a Solo trilogy was originally in the works. Before Solo bombed, there was plans
13:43for an entire trilogy of young Han Solo films, with the team contracted for future installments,
13:48and with the opportunity to include Han as a supporting character in other Star Wars
13:52spinoffs. The writing staff of Solo stated that they wanted to include the bounty hunter
13:56Bosk, who is briefly seen in The Empire Strikes Back, in a potential sequel, and considered
14:01possibly focusing on the Hutt cartel, while Kathleen Kennedy and Donald Glover both talked
14:05up a potential Lando spinoff. Ultimately, all of this was put on ice after Solo catastrophically
14:11underperformed, and by March 2020, word from Lucasfilm was that Solo 2 was a tough sell.
14:17But given the many interesting characters introduced in Solo, it'd be a damn shame
14:21if they weren't put to use in a future Disney Plus Star Wars series.
14:26And there we go, my friends. Those were 20 things you didn't know about Solo, a Star
14:29Wars story. I hope you enjoyed that, and please let me know what you thought about it down
14:33in the comments section below. As always, I've been Jules, you can go follow me over
14:36on Twitter at RetroJWithA0, or you can swing by Liv and Let's Dice, where I do all my
14:40streaming outside of work, and it'd be great to see you over there. But before I go, I
14:44just want to say one thing. Hope you treat yourself with love and respect, my friends,
14:47because you bloody well deserve it, alright? And don't let anything or anyone else tell
14:51you otherwise, alright? You're a massive ledge, now go out there and smash it. As always,
14:55I've been Jules, you have been awesome, never forget that, and I'll speak to you
14:59soon. Bye.