How Directors Turned a Star Wars Prequel Flop Into the Blueprint for Project Hail Mary [Exclusive]

One of the great Star Wars what-ifs lives with Solo: A Star Wars Story. Phil Lord and Chris Miller started it, Ron Howard finished it, critics were generally kind, and the box office shrugged harder than any other live-action entry in the saga. The duo has always hinted they wish they could have seen their version through. But here is the twist: that detour ended up building the team behind their next sci-fi swing, Project Hail Mary.

What they carried from Solo into Project Hail Mary

While promoting their new film, Lord said the experience directly shaped who is making Project Hail Mary with them — and even helped bring a key creature to life.

"Well, we use a lot of similar crew people, a lot of costume department, Neil Scanlon, who helped design Rocky, a lot of the folks in our sound department, so there are really a lot of teammates that we worked with on that. So, certainly brought a lot of experience to this."

And Miller kept it simple:

"And then anytime you make a movie, you're learning, you're learning new things. And we learned a lot on that one, and we just keep learning about everything that we do."

Translation: getting bounced from one space adventure set up a different space adventure, with many of the same people. That is a weird little domino effect.

How we got here: the Solo timeline

Back in 2012, Disney bought Lucasfilm and immediately set two tracks: new sequels and standalones not tethered to the Skywalker family. Rogue One zoomed in on the crew that stole the Death Star plans. Josh Trank developed a Boba Fett film. Then came the announcement that Han Solo would get an origin story. Fans were split — Harrison Ford casts a long shadow — but Lord and Miller looked like a sharp choice after The LEGO Movie and 21 Jump Street. The cast was stacked: Alden Ehrenreich, Donald Glover, Emilia Clarke, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge.

Weeks before principal photography wrapped, Lord and Miller left the project. That exit wasn’t a one-off. It foreshadowed a larger pattern of director and project shake-ups across the franchise:

• Josh Trank’s Boba Fett movie dissolved.
• Colin Trevorrow departed Episode IX after being announced.
• Rian Johnson’s announced trilogy was shelved.
• Patty Jenkins’ Rogue Squadron evaporated.
• Game of Thrones duo David Benioff and D.B. Weiss moved on from their planned films.

Solo always felt like it was pushing a boulder uphill. Despite an appealing creative package, the movie landed softly: critics leaned positive, audiences were cooler, and it still holds the title of the lowest-earning live-action Star Wars film.

Looking ahead to Project Hail Mary

Eight years after Solo, Lord and Miller finally have another big sci-fi swing on deck. Thanks to relationships forged on that Star Wars set — including creature maestro Neil Scanlon, who helped design the character named Rocky, plus familiar hands in costumes and sound — their new movie arrives with a seasoned, space-tested crew. However Solo turned out, it clearly wasn’t a dead end for them. It was a launchpad.