Over the past few months Disney has thrown out one of the widest casting nets ever to find an actor to play a younger Han Solo in his spin-off movie. Reportedly the studio had looked at thousands of actors for the role, which makes sense considering how many different factors will go into the decision. Whoever takes on the role has to have the same arrogant swagger as the character, but also have the same inherent likability of Harrison Ford without it feeling like a bizarre impersonation. That's no easy feat.
Now, however, Variety is reporting the list of several thousand people is down to just a handful of names. Unsurprisingly, most of them are either already famous or on their way there. So if you were hoping for an absolute, total unknown to take command of the Millennium Falcon, this short list of potential actors may dash those hopes. It includes:
Miles Teller
Whiplash
Fantastic Four
Rabbit Hole
Ansel Elgort
The Fault in Our Stars
Insurgent
Paper Towns
Dave Franco
Neighbors
21 Jump Street
Fright Night
Jack Reynor
Transformers: Age of Extinction
What Richard Did
Macbeth
Scott Eastwood
The Longest Ride
Fury
Texas Chainsaw 3D
Logan Lerman
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Fury
Percy Jackson
Emory Cohen
Brooklyn
The Place Beyond the Pines
The Gambler
Blake Jenner
Glee
Love at First Site
Fresh 2 Death 2010 (short)
Reportedly that's the batch of actors directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller and producer Kathleen Kennedy will start testing in the next few weeks. And even though the movie isn't expected to start filming for another year, the reason for locking down the actor now is supposedly because the studio wants to give him a cameo in this December's Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
We wouldn't count on that being true just yet, though. Rogue One is about the theft of the plans for the Death Star that leads into the opening moments of A New Hope. We're not sure how a young Han Solo fits into a time frame where we first meet a Han Solo who is clearly not young. Unless it takes a decade for them to steal the plans to the Death Star or they shoehorn in a random flashback, having a young Han Solo in Rogue One is a tad odd.
Now, how young he'll be is still a bit of a question mark. The actors on that list are, for the most part, in their early 20s, so they could either be playing their current age or perhaps even a bit younger. Either way, if that is indeed the casting pool they're working with (these early short lists aren't always accurate), it's safe to say we can rule out the movie being about Han Solo as a teenager.
The young Han Solo movie will hit theaters on May 25, 2018.