When Ron Howard was brought on to replace Phil Lord and Christopher Miller as the director of the upcoming Han Solo standalone Star Wars movie, everyone knew there were likely to be changes ahead. With a decent chunk of the movie in the can, it remained unclear just how much of that material would make it to the final cut.
Now we know that at least one character is ending up on the cutting room floor. According to Deadline, the character played by Michael K. Williams has been cut amid reshoots.
According to Williams, best known for his portrayal of Omar on The Wire as well as his Emmy-nominated turn in The Night Of, at least part of the reason is that the revised production schedule conflicted with his standing commitment to the upcoming spy drama The Red Sea Diving Resort.
“When Ron Howard got hired to finish out the film, there were some reshoot issues that needed to be done in regards to my character, in order for it to match the new direction which the producers wanted Ron to carry the film in. And that would have required me on a plane a month ago to London, to Pinewood, to do reshoots. But I’m here, on location in Africa. It’s scheduling. I’m not going to be back on the market until the end of November after Hap and Leonard, and for them to wait that long for me, that would have pushed back the release date, which I believe is in May 2018. They wanted me now; I couldn’t go. So they had to clip-clip-clip.”
Details about Williams’ character remain sketchy but he told Deadline that he played “a half-human, half-animal” and that the movie team “created a kick-ass character, in my opinion. I’m proud of it.”
Half-human, half-animal? Wait, was he playing a mog?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jkz1i1CNUo4
Williams notes that despite the fact that he won’t be in the Han Solo movie, he had a great time making the film and leaves the door open to get into the Star Wars universe another way.
“I don’t think that me not being in the Star Wars family is final. I left with a very good taste in my mouth about the whole family, and I hope that I left a good taste in their mouth. They’re a great group of people, the Lucas family.”
[Deadline]
