It’s official. Disney has cast Alden Ehrenreich as the young Han Solo.
Alden Ehrenreich is the new Han Solo. Beating the likes of Dave Franco, Logan Lerman, and Scott Eastwood to secure the role, Ehrenreich is all set to step into the shoes of Harrison Ford, and portray the iconic smuggler on screen. The casting was confirmed at the Star Wars Celebration event, which was held in London over this weekend.
It wouldn’t be out of place if you heard the name and asked, “Who?”
Not many people have heard of him before, but this isn’t the first time that the Star Wars franchise has cast someone relatively unknown. On reading a little bit more, I found out that he has worked with Francis Ford Coppola (director of The Godfather series, and Apocalypse Now), and Woody Allen (Crimes and Misdemeanors, Annie Hall, and so on), and these two are among the most respected people in the film industry.
The Essence of Han
Han Solo is one of my favourite movie characters, and his (SPOILER) death in The Force Awakens came as quite a shock. His sarcasm, combined with a devil-may-care attitude and swagger, along with Harrison Ford’s portrayal of the character were received with critical acclaim for both Ford and director/producer/writer George Lucas.
It will be difficult to see someone other than Ford being called Han Solo during a movie, and it’s totally up to Ehrenreich to make the role his own.
Not the first time this has happened
Another actor who portrayed the younger version of a well liked character, played by a great actor (Tommy Lee Jones), was Josh Brolin as a young Agent K in Men in Black 3. He was lauded by critics and praised by the public for being able to reproduce Jones’ style. Perhaps like Ford, Ehrenreich’s portrayal of Han Solo will take his acting career to the next level.
The script for the new movie is being written by Lawrence Kasdan (The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi) and his son, Jon.
Filming on the forthcoming, as yet unnamed origin film is scheduled to begin in January of 2017, and is slated to be released on 25th May, 2018. Mark your calendars.
The Star Wars franchise seems to be moving quickly under the wheels of Disney’s massive budget. Check out the recent announcement of Rogue One and the peoples’ reaction with our Star Wars: Rogue One poster preview here!