Han Solo casting for the upcoming Star Wars Anthology film will aim for an actor in his late teens to early 20s
Officially announced by Lucasfilm last month, The LEGO Movie helmers Phil Lord and Chris Miller are gearing up to direct a still-untitled Star Wars Anthology film that will follow Han Solo. Today, EW has some interesting details regarding the film’s potential tone and who the filmmakers are looking at as far as the Han Solo casting.
“We don’t want to spend time going back and answering a lot of questions that, quite frankly, I don’t think people want answered,” says Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy. “…I think the key here is that we are identifying an event or events in Han Solo’s life that gives you some idea of who he is and why he is the character we have all known to love…You can imagine, given who we’ve chosen to come in and direct, it should be very entertaining and funny. Han Solo is the character inside Star Wars that everybody knows has a wit and sense of humor. So that’s what this should be.”
The screenplay for the Han Solo movie is written by Lawrence Kasdan and Jon Kasdan and will focus on how young Han Solo became the smuggler, thief, and scoundrel whom Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi first encountered in the cantina at Mos Eisley.
Technically, the new film marks the second Han Solo casting from Lord and Miller. Voice actor Keith Ferguson played the part in their The LEGO Movie. Now, though, the search is on for a new star to take over the role made famous by Harrison Ford. According to Kennedy, the new Han Solo casting will aim for an actor about 15 years younger than Ford was during Star Wars.
“He’ll definitely be probably in the high teens, low 20s,” she says. “We’re not introducing you to a 10-year-old Han Solo.”
Lawrence Kasdan, the writer and director known for Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Big Chill, and Grand Canyon, is familiar to “Star Wars” fans for having co-written the screenplays for The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. His son Jon Kasdan wrote and directed The First Time, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, and In the Land of Women, as well as writing for the television series “Freaks and Geeks” and “Dawson’s Creek.”
Slated for a May 25, 2018 release, the Han Solo movie will be executive produced by Lawrence Kasdan and Jason McGatlin and co-produced by Will Allegra.
