Exclusive: The Ugly Truth Behind Drew Struzan’s D23 TFA Poster

One of the big stories out of last weekend’s D23 convention was the unveiling of an exclusive Drew Struzan poster for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. First the bad news: the artwork was largely panned because of an odd-looking Han Solo slapped into the lower left corner of the poster. The good news: the Struzan poster IS NOT the official movie poster for the film. All of this begs the question: how does a master artist like Drew Struzan miss the mark on such a simple poster smack in the middle of his wheelhouse? The answer will blow your minds. Read on for the behind-the-scenes story of why Han Solo died at the hands of Drew Struzan.

The following exclusive report was sent in by my cousin Bob Ross:

A mere 48 hours before D23, the exclusive Star Wars: The Force Awakens poster created by revered artist Drew Struzan was still a work-in-progress. 

Struzan's original design featured 85% less Han Solo

Struzan’s original composition – a classic floating heads design featuring a mix of returning heroes and new faces amid a collage of twin suns, spaceships, and lens flares – was dismissed by the new creative director on the project, none other than Harrison Ford.

The stuff of sequel trilogy posters

According to Ford, Struzan’s artwork missed the boat so much, he described it as something a “blindfolded stormtrooper with a brush" would paint. "How the hell do you mess up this mug that badly -- he made me look like a f$@&ing caveman!" Things did not improve much after the opening shot by the actor, a clear indication of a troubled project.

The Ford Artwork Group

Struzan reached out to JJ Abrams for help as the director had previously approved the artwork, but the designer immediately hit a roadblock. Apparently, because Ford confirmed his appearance at D23, Disney and Lucasfilm made him President of the Ford Artwork Group, consisting of the actor and his wife, noted art connoisseur Calista Flockhart along with JJ Abrams and Larry “Larr” Kasdan. This group would be tasked with giving the final say on any and all Ford-related artwork tied to Star Wars for D23.

Struzan was floored by the sudden change. His outrage was quickly tempered by several hundred thousand dollars added to his fee for the commission. The money was still not enough to save the artwork from becoming a blight on Struzan’s career and Han Solo’s face. 

Self-portrait of the artist as an old-frustrated-with-Ford man

The Ford Artwork Group’s first decision was an obvious one in hindsight. Ditch the collage of characters in favor of a large poster featuring Han Solo. Here's what my cousin claims Ford said repeatedly:

“My name is Solo…. that’s Spanish for Just Me on El Cover! Entiende, Drew?!”

Ford is no slouch in photoshop

Struzan immediately began work on a Solo-centric poster featuring Han and Leia in a romantic pose reminiscent of the classic Empire Strikes Back poster. The 72-year old actor had this to say about Carrie Fisher:

“That bird is way too old for me! Her daughter’s closer to my age, but we’ve gotta up the pretty on that one, nawmean.”

Not poster girl material, according to Ford

Ford’s ironic ageism was not reserved for his costar either. He also accused Drew Struzan of senility because the artist wasn’t “getting” Ford’s request for a graffiti-style Han Solo with a 3D “piece” lettering of the film’s title.

Fortunately, after a rough start, Struzan and Solo began to see old-man-eye-to-old-man-eye as they collaborated on a new version of the poster. Struzan would focus on the trio of new heroes in this composition. The intent was to show a literal balance of the force, with the light side represented by Finn on the left, the dark side embodied by Kylo Ren on the right, and our heroine Rey trapped in the middle – a grey area. 

The literal balance of the force

Struzan and Ford’s collective instincts were spot on in terms of story beats as one of the biggest plot points in The Force Awakens involves a difficult decision Rey must make – choose the light side or the dark side. Of course this didn't leave much room for an older Han Solo – something the two gentlemen overlooked when collaborating.

Struzan went back to working alone. He thought long and hard (despite only having 48 hours) about how to tastefully include Harrison Ford in the poster. His first Only-Solo attempt was met with absolute fury by the Ford Artwork Group. Struzan placed a small Millennium Falcon in the background of X-Wings below Finn. He argued that the Falcon was synonymous with Han Solo.

Ford in the center left in the Millennium Falcon

“Do I have a f*&%ing satellite dish on my head, a*@hole?”

The artist’s second attempt featured Han Solo’s ghostly face made up of stars in the background. It was very subtle yet despite Struzan arguing the merits of connect-the-dots as a design choice, the design also died.

“I need to look like I shit – I mean shot first!”

The King... and Harrison Ford

Struzan’s third attempt finally appeased the Ford Artwork Group. The artist placed an image of an older Han Solo posing with his blaster at-the-ready in the lower right corner of the composition. The actual rendering was based on a classic Andy Warhol painting of Elvis Presley in gunshot hero mode.

"Ain't Nothing But a Han Dog"

It seemed Struzan was onto something, as Ford did not immediately hang up on him during their 12^th Skype session of the day. Instead the actor treated everyone to an impromptu Elvis concert, which was all good and fun until Ford (still on a healing ankle) took a spill while shaking his pelvis and belting out “Jailhouse Rock.” Calista helped him recover, and everyone had a great laugh. 

Dramatic recreation

Despite being happy with Solo’s new pose, the Ford Artwork Group still wasn’t okay with the poster. They felt Han Solo should be on the left hand side of the composition, since he is a “good guy.”

“I’m the only A-list star in this entire production. Damn right I’m on the light side. Matter of fact, put a sun around me. I don’t care how many suns are on Jakkooine.”

Struzan complied, placing Solo on the left-hand side in his Elvis pose with a bright sun near him. This was still not enough to please the Ford Artwork Group. It appears size does matter when it comes to Han Solo.

“I want to look bigger than the Jackie Robinson Jedi.”

The finished "product"

After a few back-and-forths, the size and placement of Han Solo was agreed upon. The brouhaha was still not over though. The signature on the piece became the next sticking point.

Struzan demanded his iconic cursive ‘drew’ appear in the piece. The Ford Story Group lobbied for Harrison Ford’s chicken scratch ‘solo#yolo’ to appear instead. They argued it spoke to newer generations whereas cursive was a dying hobby for geezers.

Somehow Struzan pulled a Jedi Mind Trick on everyone by convincing Ford and company that the signature ‘drew’ could be interpreted as having ‘drawn’ first, and everyone knows that Han Solo drew first, since he shot first. What a cad, that Struzan!

After an 8-hour wait, the Ford Artwork Group finally approved the poster design. I think it’s fair to say that Drew Struzan did an outstanding job given Ford’s ridiculous demands. Let’s all pray that his artwork committee does NOT have any say in the actual one-sheet for Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Fun post-script: My cousin Bob Ross mentions that during the 8-hour wait for approval, Struzan had nothing to do… so he channeled his frustrations into very dark and funny versions of the poster in question. And let's just say Solo is featured in poses unlike you've ever seem him before. Imagine the character amidst one or more of the following to get a better picture:

• Colostomy bag
• Adult diaper
• Miracle ear 2000
• Small crashed plane
• Crutches
• Flockhart bones

My cousin was able to smuggle one piece of “lost” artwork from the trash at Drew Struzan’s home.

WARNING: IT IS VERY OFFENSIVE!

FSW does not condone hate speech or racism in any form. That said, Drew Struzan probably doesn’t either. He was just so fed up with Harrison Ford and his demands that he started to paint hateful things willy nilly. Oddly enough, in this hateful painting, Han Solo remains untouched. Strange how the mind works. In any case, behold one of Drew Struzan’s too-offensive-for-D23 poster below.

Drew: I should have stayed retired!