While we're all still basking in the box office glow of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," Disney and Lucasfilm are turning their attention to other stories in that galaxy far, far away. "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" will be the first non-saga Anthology film to arrive later this year, but it is the Han Solo origin story that has "Star Wars" fans really excited. Which actor will ultimately don the iconic black vest and side blaster has been a source of intense debate among fans since the project was first announced.
Variety is reporting that following a search of thousands of actors, decision makers at Disney and Lucasfilm have cut the list down to about a dozen with Miles Teller, Ansel Elgort, Dave Franco, Jack Reynor, Scott Eastwood, Logan Lerman, Emory Cohen and Blake Jenner leading the way.
Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy and directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller will begin screen testing with the candidates soon. A final decision is expected in the next few weeks.
While filming for the movie won't actually begin until next January, Variety's sources report that Lucasfilm is pushing for a quick decision so that the young Han Solo could make a brief cameo in "Rogue One" before his own standalone. Disney has popularized this strategy with their successful Marvel movies (Tom Holland will be debuting as Spider-Man in "Captain America: Civil War") and the timing - "Rogue One" takes place in between "Episode III: Revenge of the Sith" and "Episode IV: A New Hope" - does match up.
Outside of Eastwood, who is 29, the studio seems to be focusing on actors in between the ages of 20 to 25. They even reportedly tested actors as young as 17 and as old as 34.
The untitled Han Solo movie is scheduled to hit theaters on May 25, 2018.
