Now playing: Watch this: Ron Howard directing Han Solo 'Star Wars' film

Tony Barson

Days after Phil Lord and Christopher Miller departed as directors of Lucasfilm's upcoming Han Solo movie, reports are emerging that Ron Howard will take over in their stead.

The initial news comes by way of The Hollywood Reporter, which says that an official announcement is slated for later this morning. Lord and Miller were reportedly let go after four and a half months of filming due to creative differences with Lucasfilm and with veteran screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan.

Howard has a history with Star Wars creator George Lucas that dates all the way back to 1973, when he appeared in Lucas' film "American Graffiti." Howard also directed the Lucas-produced 1988 fantasy film "Willow" and says he turned down the director's chair for "The Phantom Menace," calling the project "too daunting."

He won an Academy Award in 2002 for directing "A Beautiful Mind." Recent movies in his filmography include "Frost/Nixon" and a trio of films based on the books of Dan Brown: "The DaVinci Code," "Angels & Demons" and "Inferno." He's also an executive producer and the voice of the narrator on the Fox- and Netflix-produced TV comedy "Arrested Development."

Lucasfilm is pleased to announce that Academy Award-winning filmmaker Ron Howard has been named director of the untitled Han Solo film. A post shared by Star Wars (@starwars) on Jun 22, 2017 at 7:52am PDT

Disney and Lucasfilm confirmed the news on social media and with a post on the official Star Wars website.

The as yet untitled Han Solo movie is the second spin-off from the main Star Wars series, following last year's "Rogue One." Alden Ehrenreich will play a young version of the sassy smuggler in the movie, which is scheduled for release in May 2018.

Updated at 1:40 p.m. ET on June 22, 2017, with official confirmation from Disney.