This year's "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" isn't the only space film that Disney has up its sleeve, with at least three more sequels and one spin-off in the works. A standalone film for the reckless smuggler himself, Han Solo, is making a buzz online, especially with a much-coveted role of the young Han Solo.
According to reports, Jeanne McCarthy has been enlisted as the film's casting director, and is quite known for her hand in "21 Jump Street" and "Zoolander." It looks like McCarthy has her work cut out for her with over a whopping 2,500 auditions being held so far, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Despite producer Kathleen Kennedy's description of the character being in his "high teens, low 20s," the audition saw some people who definitely did not meet the demographic.
Among the thousands that auditioned for the role were Miles Teller, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Dave Franco, Rami Malek, Hunter Parrish, Colton Haynes, Max Thieriot, Ansel Elgort, Nick Robinson, Logan Lerman, Chandler Riggs and Tony Oller. The casting net is also not exclusive to American actors, as several English actors are also being considered for the role, including Ed Westwick, Tom Felton and Joshua Sasse.
The standalone Han Solo movie will reportedly not be an origin story or show the dashing debonair's childhood. Instead, the film will focus on character development and how Han Solo came to be the scoundrel he was when he was first introduced in "Star Wars: A New Hope."
Speaking on The Empire Podcast (via MakingStarWars), writer Lawrence Kasdan shed a little light on the film's story: "I think what it will be is what was he like ten years earlier, ya know maybe a little earlier you'll get a glimpse but... what formed the person we meet in the cantina? It is not so much about his specific history. It is about what makes a person like that?"
Kasdan is co-writing the film's script with his son, Jon. The untitled film will be directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, with shooting set to begin in January 2017. The epic origin film is slated to be released on May 25, 2018.
