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‘Star Wars’ Spinoff: Who Will Be The Next Han Solo?

By Val Powell
Published on: 21:23 PST, Jan 11, 2016

Star Wars has successfully found its way back to stardom, and a month after its latest film, The Force Awakens, was released, people are still raving about the new story in a galaxy far away.

The latest installment in the franchise recently shattered the domestic box-office record previously held by James Cameron’s Avatar, which garnered $760.5 million in ticket sales. And while the 2009 film successfully earned the record in 318 days, J.J. Abrams’ galaxy movie achieved the same feat in the U.S. in less than a month.

When the film premiered in December, it broke the box-office record with a $528 million global opening.

Due to the huge success of The Force Awakens, Disney and Lucasfilm are eyeing a few spinoff movies while fans wait for Episode VIII. The studio also plans to release a new Star Wars film each year.

One of these spinoffs features a young Han Solo and would be set in a time before his meeting with Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia in Episode IV: A New Hope.

Variety has recently revealed a shortlist of the actors that are pressed to take on the difficult role that Harrison Ford developed in four Star Wars films.

Some of the names that crept up on the list include Miles Teller (Whiplash), Dave Franco (Neighbors), Ansel Elgort (The Fault in Our Stars), Logan Lerman (The Perks of Being a Wallflower), Emory Cohen (Brooklyn), Blake Jenner (Everybody Wants Some), Jack Reynor (Transformers: Age of Extinction), and Scott Eastwood (The Longest Ride).

Some of the young actors in the list, including Elgort, Teller, Franco, and Lerman, have already made a name for themselves in Hollywood due to the success of their recent films. However, it still remains to be seen if they can showcase the same cocky bravado that Ford’s Han Solo showed from Episodes IV to VI.

Meanwhile, Cohen, Reynor, and Jenner have already had their fair share of screen time in some films and TV series. Scott, who is Clint Eastwood’s son, is the oldest of the pack at 29 years old, and seems like a good fit for the role as well, considering Ford first played Solo when he was 33 years old.

According to the same report, there is no clear frontrunner yet for the role, and all the shortlisted actors will be further screened.

Producer Kathleen Kennedy said that, together with Lord and Miller, they will screen the remaining actors, and a decision is expected in the “next couple weeks.”

However, another report claims that not everyone in the alleged shortlist is actually included in the pool of actors in consideration for the role. A source told Entertainment Weekly that, while there are some on the list that are considered, there are still more auditions to be held.

One virtually unknown option is Canadian actor Anthony Ingruber, who earned some fame for impersonating Han Solo in some YouTube videos. Interestingly, he has already starred alongside Harrison Ford in a film, Age of Adaline, in which he played a younger version of Ford’s character.

Watch Canadian YouTube Star Anthony Ingruber Do An Uncanny Impression of Harrison Ford’s Han Solo

Regardless of how soon they pick out an actor to play Han Solo, filming won’t begin until January next year. However, reports claim that the younger Han Solo will make a cameo appearance in the upcoming Star Wars spinoff film, Rogue One.

The Star Wars spinoff will be set right before Episode IV and features a group of Rebel spies who went to the Death Star in order to complete a heist. The film will show how the group succeeded in getting out the necessary schematics that Princess Leia gains possession of later on and uses to take on the Death Star.

[Image via YouTube]

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