He was mentioned as the frontrunner not too long ago, but it has now been confirmed that Alden Ehrenreich (Hail, Caesar!) is in final talks to play the young Han Solo. A press release is likely to follow any day now, and after a search which saw Disney and Lucasfilm consider over 2,500 young actors, they’ve now found a pilot for the Millennium Falcon.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the list of finalists ended up coming down to three: Ehrenreich, Taron Egerton (Eddie the Eagle), and Jack Reynor (Transformers).
It has to be pretty heartbreaking to miss out on a role as big as this, but the pressure is now on Ehrenreich to follow in the footsteps of Harrison Ford. It’s still thought that the young Han Solo will make a brief appearance in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story later this year, while Phil Lord and Christopher Miller are directing the solo movie which is set to be released in 2018.
The Empire Strikes Back and The Force Awakens scribe Lawrence Kasdan penned the Han Solo movie alongside his son, and while many fans remain sceptical about the need for a movie revolving around a younger version of the iconic smuggler (and his pal, Chewbacca), it definitely has a ton of potential if handled the right way. So far, it’s hard to fault either this casting decision or the creative team who will be working behind the scenes on this movie…
