Harrison Ford Turned Down Han Solo Role

eldavojohn writes "It's being widely reported that Harrison Ford turned down a £20 million deal to play Han Solo once again in a George Lucas spin off of Star Wars. The source of this information seems to be a tabloid called bangshowbiz. Harrison was approached by Lucas with two roles but instead opted for the same amount to play Indiana Jones for the fourth time. Could the spin off centered on the rugged Han Solo save the Star Wars franchise from its prequels or would it have been another mediocre release disappointing demanding fans?"

Comments

HAN SHOT FIRST

[Anonymous Coward]

HAN SHOT FIRST

Re:George Lucas has lost credibility

[Telvin_3d]

Except that with Indiana Jones, it is a character than everyone involved has been vocal about wanting to bring back. Ford has stated a number of times that he wants to play Indy again. Speilberg has wanted to since they shot the last one. I believe that Sean Connery has also been quoted saying that playing Indy Sr. was the most fun he has ever had in a role. They have spent the past 20 years trying to work around everyone's schedules. The fact that Lucas is involved in it is almost an accident.

Re:No! That's not why!!!

[patio11]

For reference, http://imdb.com/gallery/granitz/3463/CarrieFish_Gr ani_5733926_400.jpg.html?path=pgallery&path_key=Fi sher,%20Carrie&seq=2

Look as good at fifty-something you will not.

Re:Would they have to pay to do that?

[robogun]

Though Han Solo belongs to Lucasfilm, Harison Ford's face still belongs to him.

If a reasonable person were to view the CGI character and identify it as Harrison Ford, and the filmmaker had not secured prior permission from Ford for the use of his likeness, then Ford would have grounds for a right-of-publicity action against the filmmakers.

Re:Good

[Bacon Bits]

Actually, that's not it at all.

I saw an interview with him around about the time of the Star Wars: A New Hope re-release. He was asked if he would ever consider reprising the role of Han Solo. He said, no. He said he didn't like the character of Han at all. When asked if he would consider playing Indiana Jones again, his immediate response was "In a second".

Ford like Jones and doesn't like Solo. It's as simple as that. He has the luxury of being able to pick his roles.

Re:The Real Problem: Harrison Ford or George Lucas

[soft_guy]

George Lucas was a brilliant filmmaker on two films: Star Wars IV and American Graffiti. He had the good sense *not to direct* Episode V and VI, which is why they turned out so well in spite of how hokey Ewoks are. Marsha Lucus (George's ex-wife) was the one with the talent - she edited his films so that they weren't shit. The two of them split up right after the third Star Wars movie in the 80s. She didn't work on Episode I, II, or III - that's why they are shit.

Re:Good

[savorymedia]

I'll take "OMFG, SNAKES" Indy over "Oh...yeah...I shot...first" Solo any f'n day.

Re:The Real Problem: Harrison Ford or George Lucas

[segedunum]

Additionally, didn't the director in EST (Irving Kershner I think) tell George Lucas to take a hike on more than one occasion as to how various scenes were done in the film, and with the dialogue? Certainly, Kershner was almost completely responsible for the good dialogue like "Impressive. Most impressive", "Your destiny lies with me", "I am your Father!" type good stuff. For example (http://www.salon.com/ent/col/srag/1999/05/13/kers hner/print.html):

The director says his one extended disagreement with Lucas came over the film's biggest laugh line. Just before he's put into carbon freeze, Princess Leia tells Han Solo, "I love you," and Lucas wanted Han to say, "I love you, too." But at Kershner's prodding, Ford came up with just the right piece of macho wit: instead of "I love you, too," a sardonic "I know."

Now that's what's wrong with the so called prequels. A line that corny simply has to be delivered with some humour or people just cringe like hell in their seats.

Small wonder that Kershner's name, and those of the writers, were put to the back of the credits and Lucasfilm was put up prominently. The guy is utter shite and extremely lucky, and the only reason why Indiana Jones works is because he has Stephen Spielberg to keep him in check.

Re:The Real Problem: Harrison Ford or George Lucas

[shotgunsaint]

I honestly suspect Lucas' dramatic direction skills as the culprit for Episodes I- III. Sure Anakin was a whiny pussy, but so was Luke in Episode IV. Watch any scene with Natalie Portman, and compare her side-by-side with ANY other movie she's in. The difference is night and day. The lines are bad, the delivery is bad. If she can make Garden State a decent movie, then it takes an epic-level fuckup like Lucas to ruin her.

Re:The Real Problem: Harrison Ford or George Lucas

[bckrispi]

I think that was a rather big oversight on the part of Lucas, considering the Jedi Master who instructed Ben was Qui-Gonn, not Yoda. That one might be a little more difficult to explain away.

Yoda trained Obi-wan as a youngling. We saw Yoda in this role in AotC. When he was ready to be a full Padawan Apprentice, he took Qui-Gon as his master. This is easy to infer on it's own, but many books in the EU elaborate on this fact.

Re:The Real Problem: Harrison Ford or George Lucas

[bckrispi]

Obi'wan doesn't know C3PO or R2D2 in 'New Hope'.

He never claimed he didn't know them. All he said was "I don't seem to remember ever owning a droid.

The "I am your father", which is quite a dramatic climax in the original serie doesn't work anymore if you watch Starwars in the correct order.

Ohh, come *on* now. It's called "suspension of disbelief". We empathize with Luke's character at this point because for *him*, it's a shock. Seriously, bubbalaroo, this revelation was made nearly 27 years ago. You're not going to surprise anyone by hiding this fact in the prequels. I bet even an Austrailian Aboriginal knows that Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker's father by now.