Ron Howard Says Star Wars Spinoff Reports Not 'Entirely Accurate'

[Black Panther]

Solo: A Star Wars Story director Ron Howard states recent reports regarding the franchise's spinoff films are not "entirely accurate." After being acquired by Lucasfilm, Disney was eager to expand the galaxy far, far away beyond the Skywalker saga by producing standalone anthology movies that told other stories. While the first one out of the gate, Rogue One, was a smashing success, Solo floundered at the box office. Despite generally positive reviews, Howard's film will go down as the first Star Wars installment to lose money.

In the aftermath, numerous questions have been raised about Star Wars' future. It was only a week ago word was Lucasfilm was putting other spinoffs such as Obi-Wan and Boba Fett on hold as they reevaluate their strategies. The studio maintains there are still numerous movies in development, which is a sentiment Howard seems to share.

TMZ caught up with the director and asked him about the other Star Wars standalone films. Howard had this to say:

"I don't think it's entirely accurate. I think that was reported, but I don't think that's what I understand. Everybody at Lucasfilm and Disney really cares about the fans. I think it's an ongoing process of discovering what it can be and what it can all add up to. It's a process, and personally, I like that they take some chances, take some risks and see how people respond to it."

It is worth mentioning that at no point were any Star Wars spinoffs reported to be outright canceled, so Howard's comments essentially line up with what's been said. In these early days of the franchise renaissance (The Force Awakens came out less than three years ago), Lucasfilm seems to be something of a fluid situation where they're experimenting with different concepts and seeing what works. Solo came up short of expectations, though mainly because of its exorbitant budget and lackluster marketing campaign. That may cause a film like James Mangold's Boba Fett to have a smaller price tag (in order to maximize potential profits), but there's no need to pull the plug on anything just yet. One commercial disappointment is not a franchise killer, and Star Wars had done very well at the box office the past three years.

What remains to be seen, however, is when Lucasfilm will unveil plans for these movies. They have officially confirmed projects like Rian Johnson's new trilogy and David Benioff & D.B. Weiss' series, but have remained mum on Obi-Wan and others. That may have been an intentional move on the studio's part as they waited for the response to Solo, and announcements are incoming for a later date. After all the behind-the-scenes turmoil Star Wars has endured over the past couple of years, Lucasfilm would probably like to make sure everything is locked in place before going public with a film. Obi-Wan allegedly lost director Stephen Daldry long ago, so a lot of things are up in the air.