The Millenium Falcon has a new pilot. Directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller have found their Han Solo.
Alden Ehrenreich is in final negotiations to don the vest and pick up the blaster for the Star Wars standalone, according to sources, which centers on a younger version of the franchise favorite.
Following an exhaustive search, where 2,500 young men met for the project, a trio of Han hopefuls ended up on the finalist list, includingHail, Caesar!’s Ehrenreich, Kingsman actor Taron Egerton and Transformers: Age of Extinction’s Jack Reynor. Miles Teller, Ansel Elgort and Brooklyn breakout Emory Cohen were among those on the shortlist in earlier rounds.
Ehrenreich will be taking over the Han Solo mantle from Harrison Ford, who first appeared as the solar-system-hopping swashbuckling smuggler with swagger and captain of Millennium Falcon in 1977’s Star Wars: A New Hope, as well as The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.Ford and the character made a triumphant return in 2015’s The Force Awakens, the movie that rebooted the George Lucas-created sci-fi franchise and set in motion standalone and spin-off movies.
For the Disney and Lucasfilm production, Lord and Miller, of 21 Jump Street and Lego Moviefame, will direct from a script from father-son writing duo, Lawrence and Jon Kasdan.
The Han Solo spin-off is scheduled for release in May 2018.