“Truly amazing”: the letter Ron Howard penned in defence of ‘The Phantom Menace’
While Ron Howard is best known for his early acting career as a child and young man in the likes of The Andy Griffith Show and Happy Days, and his later work as a director, delivering brilliant cinematic works in the shape of A Beautiful Mind, Apollo 13 and Cinderella Man, he has also been invariably linked to one of the biggest movie franchises of all time.
Without a doubt, Star Wars has become the most cherished science fiction movie series in the history of cinema ever since the first film arrived back in 1977. Some 50 years later, Howard was given the chance to direct a Star Wars movie in the form of Solo: A Star War Story after taking over from Phil Lord and Christopher Miller after they were both fired during principal photography.
Howard admitted that he enjoyed making Solo, but had also reflected on the project being “unfortunate” and something of a “shame” that Lord and Miller had to be sacked. In the end, though, the producers of the film had to bring in someone like Howard, known for getting the job done even when his back was up against the wall.
Interestingly, when the first Star Wars movie was released back in 1977, Howard had been unsure of its potential for success, once telling The New York Times that he thought “it was a pretty terrible idea”. The director noted, “George [Lucas] tried to explain it as a kind of Flash Gordon movie but with better special effects. And I thought it was a pretty terrible idea. Sci-fi was really a B-minus genre. I couldn’t possibly imagine what he was trying to do.”
How wrong Howard proved to be, and 50 years later, he was in the director’s seat for Solo. However, Howard might also have been taking on a Star Wars movie earlier, having discussed directing The Phantom Menace with Lucas. However, Howard clarified how the conversation went down, explaining, “It was a casual conversation in a car park. It was not like I read a script and weighed it carefully. It was a knee-jerk reaction because I immediately felt like George should do it.”
Eventually, 1999’s Episode I was indeed directed by Lucas and though it was praised for its special effects and brought in a huge box office, it was also on the receiving end of heavy criticism, especially considering some of the characters like Jar Jar Binks and the acting, particularly that of poor Jake Lloyd, playing a young Anakin Skywalker.
Following the release of the film and the criticism of Lloyd, Howard wrote a letter to Newsweek hosted by Nancy Cooper, defending the film and Lloyd. Howard said that the piece was “generally snide and insipid”, adding that “the potshot at nine-year-old Jake Lloyd was downright irresponsible”.
Howard went on to claim that Jake Lloyd was “incredible” in The Phantom Menace, while the film itself is “truly amazing”. The director wrote, “Movies are subject to public scrutiny, but for Newsweek to attack a child’s performance based on rumour and without even having seen the movie is shameful.”
Nancy Cooper and Newsweek had assumed Lloyd’s performance was poor based solely on the “insider” reports during principal photography. However, Howard stood up for the young actor, having also acted as a child himself, knowing that Lloyd would be “quite capable of reading, understanding and feeling the full humiliation” of the Newsweek piece.
So, while The Phantom Menace was indeed criticised for its acting and its overall story and characterisation, Ron Howard was someone who was willing to stick by it until the end. Around 20 years later, he was the one in the driving seat for Solo.
