20 Things You Didn't Know About Solo: A Star Wars Story
13. Ron Howard Previously Turned Down An Offer To Direct The Phantom Menace
More than 20 years before Ron Howard stepped in to finish Solo, he was offered the opportunity to helm another Star Wars movie.
Back when George Lucas was writing Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, he intended for a trusted fellow filmmaker to take the directing reins, offering the job to Robert Zemeckis, Steven Spielberg, and then Howard himself.
Each of the three graciously rejected the offer - because, in Howard's words, it would simply be "too daunting" - while advising Lucas to direct the prequel himself.
The Phantom Menace and its follow-ups are what they are, but it's impossible not to try and imagine what they might've been with Zemeckis, Spielberg, or Howard in the driver's seat instead.