'Han Solo' is an upcoming spin-off of the original 'Star Wars' films and will feature a young Han Solo. Several young actors included in the newly emerged shortlist of candidates for the title role made famous by Harrison Ford include Taron Egerton and Jack Reynor.
According to the Irish Examiner, the shortlist for actors set to play the younger version of Harrison Ford's iconic Star Wars character have reportedly emerged. It included Taron Egerton of 'Kingsman: The Secret Service', Jack Reynor of 'Transformers: Age of Extinction' and Alden Ehrenreich of 'Hail, Caesar!'. Screen testing as well as costume tests were done in London after 10 actors supposedly met with directors Christopher Miller and Phil Lord.
Other actors allegedly part of the shortlist include Miles Teller of 'Divergent', Ansel Elgort of 'The Fault in Our Stars', Dave Franco of 'Now You See Me' and Emory Cohen of 'Brooklyn'. Their involvement has not been confirmed as of the present.
According to another article by the Hollywood Reporter, around 2,500 actors have auditioned for the much-coveted part in the Star Wars anthology film through face-to-face auditions or via audition tapes. It has become one of the widest reaching casting calls in cinematic history.
Han Solo was made famous by Ford in the first film 'Star Wars: A New Hope' released in 1977. He went on to reprise his role in the sequels 'The Empire Strikes Back' in 1980 and 'Return of the Jedi' in 1983. The 73-year old's latest appearance in the franchise was in J.J. Abrams' 'Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens', where he reunited with original co-stars Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher who played Luke Skywalker and Leia, respectively.
Ford's character was introduced into the series as a human smuggler with a Wookie ally named Chewbacca. He eventually became the leader of the Alliance to Restore the Republic. According to the Mirror, 'Han Solo' will focus on the title character's origin story and reveal how he came to befriend Chewie.
The upcoming film is one of the spin-offs intended as part of Disney's planned Star Wars anthology of films focusing on supporting characters and plot points. Disney CEO Bob Iger said, "This is the first of a set of planned stand-alone stories... we're already in preproduction on our next one, for release in May of 2018."
'Han Solo' is an upcoming science-fiction adventure film to be directed by Christopher Miller and Phil Lord. Jon Kasdan and Lawrence Kasdan will be writing the screenplay while Kathleen Kennedy will be producing. It is scheduled to be released on May 25, 2018 in the United States.
