Alden Ehrenreich to play young Han Solo in Star Wars prequel film

After a lengthy search and many rumoured short lists, Disney and LucasFilm have found their Han Solo in the form of Hail, Caesar! actor Alden Ehrenreich.

Deadline first reported the news, which has since been verified by Variety.

The 26-year-old is best known for the Coen brothers’ film, which underperformed at the box office but was a breakout hit for Ehrenreich (you can read our interview with him here).

He also appeared in Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine and psychological horror thriller Stoker, possessing a youthful charm that will lend itself well to playing the intergalactic smuggler.

The Lego Movie’s Phil Lord and Chris Miller are directing the as-yet-untitled spin-off, the latter posting the first photo from the set yesterday.

We don’t have any plot details yet, though screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan has promised that it will be more than just an origin story.

Ehrenreich was joined on the original short list for the part by Jack Reynor, Taron Egerton and Emory Cohen.

The Han Solo prequel will open in cinemas on 25 May, 2018, coming after this year’s Rogue One spin-off, next year’s Star Wars 8 sequel and 2019’s Star Wars 9 trilogy ender.

Source: The Independent