Ron Howard recalls rejecting chance to direct The Phantom Menace

OHMYGOSSIP — Ron Howard rejected the chance to helm ‘Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace’ while stood in a car park.
The 64-year-old filmmaker has revealed he declined the potentially once-in-a-lifetime opportunity when George Lucas – who ultimately directed the sci-fi movie – approached him about the film in the late 90s.
Ron – who has helmed the much-anticipated ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’, having previously described the prospect of directing a ‘Star Wars’ film as “daunting” – recalled: “I want to clarify that a little. 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.”
However, since the money-spinning franchise has branched out into a series of spin-off films, Ron thinks the idea of directing a ‘Star Wars’ movie has become much less daunting.
He said to Total Film magazine: “Now that other people are broadening the scope and the approach to the movies, it became a more reasonable consideration.”
Meanwhile, Ron revealed last month that ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ will be “different” to any other movie linked to the franchise.
Ahead of the film’s release, he said: “The ‘Star Wars’ universe that we see in ‘Solo’ was different from anything else we’ve seen in any previous ‘Star Wars’ movies. The Empire controls everything. Everyone is struggling to survive, but we discover this incredible free spirit.”

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