Kathleen Kennedy regrets the timing of Solo: A Star Wars Story.
The 2018 sci-fi-adventure movie was released three years after Harrison Ford reprised the character in 2015's The Force Awakens, and despite positive reviews from fans and film critics, it flopped commercially - reportedly earning $393 million on a budget of at least $275 million.
And Kennedy - the outgoing president of Lucasfilm - suggests the instalment in the franchise was made "too soon".
Asked by Deadline if she had any regrets in her 14 years at the studio, Kennedy, 72, responded: "No, I don’t really have any regrets. Well, maybe a bit of regret about Solo: A Star Wars Story.
"I brought [screenwriter] Larry Kasdan in on, and we were so excited about that idea. And then when you’re into something, and you realise fundamentally, conceptually, you cannot replace Han Solo, at least right now.
"As wonderful as Alden Ehrenreich [who played Han Solo] was, and he really was good, and is a wonderful actor, we put him in an impossible situation. And once you’re in it and once you’re committed, you’ve got to carry on.
"I think I have a bit of regret about that, but not about the moviemaking and filmmaking. I don’t have regrets about that. I just think that conceptually, we did it too soon."
Elsewhere in her interview with the publication, Kennedy provided updates on some of the upcoming Star Wars movies, including James Mangold’s Dawn of the Jedi, Taika Waititi’s film and Donald Glover’s Lando Calrissian spinoff.
She said: "I’ve got to tread a bit carefully here. Jim Mangold and Beau Willimon wrote an incredible script, but it is definitely breaking the mold and it’s on hold.
"Taika has turned in a script that I think is hilarious and great. It’s not just my decision, especially when I’ve got a foot out the door.
"Donald Glover has turned in a script. And as you have read, Steve Soderbergh and Adam Driver turned in a script written by Scott Burns [for the Kylo Ren spinoff The Hunt for Ben Solo]. It was just great. Anything’s a possibility if somebody’s willing to take a risk."
She also commented on Rian Johnson’s Star Wars trilogy, which was announced back when he released The Last Jedi in 2017.
Kennedy explained: "Once he made the Netflix deal and went off to start doing the Knives Out films, that has occupied a huge amount of his time.
"That’s the other thing that happens here. After Shawn [Levy] and I started talking about Star Wars [Starfighter], Stranger Things kicks in, and he was completely consumed for a while by that. That’s what happened with Rian.”
Kennedy has headed up Lucasfilm - also responsible for Indiana Jones, amongst others - since Disney acquired Lucasfilm from George Lucas in 2012.
But she has now confirmed she will be leaving her role to become a full-time producer - with upcoming projects including Star Wars: Starfighter and The Mandalorian and Grogu.
Dave Filoni - who worked closely with Lucas on the animated show Star Wars: The Clone Wars and co-creates The Mandalorian series with Jon Favreau - will become Lucasfilm’s new President and Chief Creative Officer, while Lynwen Brennan is to serve as Co-President.
Kennedy said: "Two years ago, I went to [Disney CEO] Bob [Iger] and Alan [Bergman] to figure out what the transition plan would be, and I made the recommendation that it be Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan, the latter of whom has been running the business alongside me.
"She comes out of ILM 16 years as the general manager and then transitioned into being the general manager for Lucasfilm. She has been my key financial partner, my business partner running the company.
"Dave is the perfect person to transition, but he hadn’t made a movie, and I worked very closely with him, beginning with Rogue One, to get him a feel of how live-action works. His background is animation, as he worked with George on Clone Wars.
"Dave has now spent all of the seasons of Mandalorian working with Jon Favreau, who’s been a great mentor to him. And then he went off and did Ahsoka, which came from some of the stories he was telling in Clone Wars.
"He was able to create the Season 1 of Ahsoka, and now he’s just finished directing some of Season 2, and writing all the episodes. He finished that in October.
"But my point is, we’ve been talking about this for two years."
