UPDATE: This article has been updated to include a statement from Disney unit Foodles Production.
It’s been a perilous couple of years for Han Solo and the actor behind that iconic Star Wars role, Harrison Ford.
Beyond what happens to Han Solo on-screen in last year’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Ford suffered a broken leg and other injuries during filming in a 2014 incident on the set of the Millennium Falcon when a metal-framed hydraulic door fell and pinned the actor. (A year later, Ford also suffered serious injuries when he crashed a vintage plane on a California golf course.)
Now, Foodles Production, a Walt Disney subsidiary, has pleaded guilty in U.K. Court to two criminal charges stemming from the 2014 incident, which required Ford to be airlifted to a hospital near Pinewood Studios in southern England and delayed production on the film for roughly two months. Prosecutors said in a hearing in Milton Keynes Magistrates’ Court recently that the incident “could have killed” Ford, as the door struck the actor with the force of a small car, according to The Associated Press.
Foodles admitted to two breaches of the U.K.’s Health and Safety at Work Act with regard to the safety of employees as well as people not employed by the company. The company will be sentenced on August 22.
The U.K.’s Health and Safety Executive—the government department responsible for workplace health and safety matters—issued a statement on Tuesday noting that the government welcomes Foodles’ guilty plea with regard to the on-set injury, which the HSE called “a foreseeable incident.” The statement also reads, in part: “The British film industry has a world renowned reputation for making exceptional films. Managing on-set risks in a sensible and proportionate way for all actors and staff—regardless of their celebrity status—is vital to protecting both on-screen and off-screen talent, as well as protecting the reputation of the industry.”
A spokesperson for Foodles Production sent this statement to Coins2Day: “Foodles Ltd. Has provided full cooperation throughout HSE’s investigation into the on-set accident that occurred in June 2014. The safety of our cast and crew was always a top priority throughout the production.”
Despite the production delay, Ford recovered from his injuries and The Force Awakens soared into theaters in December 2015, shattering box office records to become the highest-grossing film of all-time in the U.S. And Canada. The movie made more than $2 billion at the global box office and the massive franchise is expected to rack up more than $700 million in merchandise sales in 2016 alone.
