Well that didn’t take long. Just two days after announcing that Phil Lord and Chris Miller had stepped down (or… ahem… been forced out) as directors of the upcoming Star Wars Han Solo spin-off, Disney and Lucasfilm have found their replacement. Ron Howard was very quickly rumoured to be the frontrunner to take over the movie with Lawrence Kasdan and Joe Johnston also listed as possible candidates. Now it appears that Howard has finalized the deal and made it official. Kathleen Kennedy released the following statement today:

“At Lucasfilm, we believe the highest goal of each film is to delight, carrying forward the spirit of the saga that George Lucas began forty years ago… With that in mind, we’re thrilled to announce that Ron Howard will step in to direct the untitled Han Solo film. We have a wonderful script, an incredible cast and crew, and the absolute commitment to make a great movie. Filming will resume the 10th of July.”

Howard will oversee the remaining three-and-a-half weeks of production plus an additional five weeks of reshoots. The quick turnaround means that the film’s release date shouldn’t change, but it remains to be seen what kind of influence he will have on the final product. Howard has not worked directly with Kathleen Kennedy before, but he has been in the industry for quite some time and tends to run in the same circles. It is still unclear who will ultimately get credit for the movie; the DGA rules on multiple directors are pretty strict and potentially ruled out Kasdan as Lord and Miller’s replacement. Do you think Ron Howard is a good choice to get the Han Solo movie back on track?