Confirmed: Alden Ehrenreich will play Han Solo in standalone Star Wars movie

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Update: July 17, 2016

In what directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller are joking is "the best kept secret in Hollywood," Alden Ehrenreich has been confirmed to play young Han Solo in the standalone Star Wars Han Solo movie from Disney. 

The news was made official at Star Wars Celebration, with Lord and Miller saying that they audition over 3000 people, but it was a waste of time because "the person who got the part was the first person to audition. Literally, the first person who walked through the door."

Alden Ehrenreich, who's starred in Hail, Caesar! and Beautiful Creatures, joined the directors on stage and revealed that he did screen tests on the Millennium Falcon and with Chewbacca! Talk about pressure. He also said he was pleased that his role had finally been confirmed as people kept congratulating him and he wasn't able to say anything.

John Boyega made a surprise appearance also, and greeted  Alden saying, "You're gonna be Han Solo, man!" But did The Force Awakens star have any advice for the newest member of the Star Wars family? "You’ve got the charm thing down," Boyega said. "Look at him, he’s smiling just like Han Solo."

Directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller and starring Alden Ehrenreich, the Han Solo standalone movie is scheduled to open on May 25, 2018.

Images: Disney/Universal 

Original: May 6, 2016

The long casting process for the titular role in Phil Lord and Chris Miller's young Han Solo standalone movie has been well-documented, but the directors have finally found their guy - Alden Ehrenreich.

The confirmation comes by way of Page Six, who report that the Hail, Casesar! star won the role over fellow actors Taron Egerton and Jack Reynor after he "impressed Disney and Lucasfilm execs with his screen tests. The deal is basically done". Page Six's report also notes that there's a chance young Han Solo may cameo in this year's Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which is shooting now.  

Ehrenreich was easily one of the highlights of Hail, Caesar!, and it's going to be interesting to see what he does with one of cinema's most popular characters. Indeed, there is plenty of curiousity surrounding this particular Star Wars anthology movie, but at least now we can finally lay the casting speculation to rest. 

Directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the Han Solo standalone movie is scheduled to open on May 25, 2018.

Images: Lucasfilm/Universal

Amon Warmann
Amon Warmann

Amon is a contributing editor and columnist for Empire magazine, but is also a Film and TV writer for GamesRadar+, Total Film, and others. He has also written for NME, Composer Mag, and more, along with being a film critic for TalkSport. He is also the co-host of the Fade to Black Podcast, and a video mashup creator. Can also do a pretty good Bane impersonation.