Now thatJ.J. Abrams’Star Wars: The Force Awakenshas premiered -along with positive critical and celebrity reactions- Disney and Lucasfilm’s new age ofStar Warshas officially begun. Part of that new expanded universe includes a movie that will trip back in time to a point when Han Solo was just a young buck cutting his teeth on smuggling runs across the galaxy. Clearly,Harrison Fordwon’t be getting back behind the helm of the Millennium Falcon for this spinoff film - unless it’s as part of a framing device - so now the folks behind the camera are looking to cast a new Han Solo.
That’s no easy feat. They’ve already seenover 2,500 hopefuls audition for the role, but no official casting announcement has been made at this point. That’s no reason to panic since theUntitled Han Solo Star Wars Anthology Filmdoesn’t even have an official title yet, and directorsPhil LordandChris Millerhave until June 22, 2025 to get their film to the big screen. Oscar-nominated screenwriterLawrence Kasdandoesn’t quite know what the Lord and Miller film will eventually look like (even though he’s writing it), but he does know what they’re looking for in a new Han Solo, as revealed in an interview withVulture:
Image via Lucasfilm[/caption]
“You want someone who isn’t going to be exactly like Harrison, you want someone who suggests him,” he said. “It’s like when you adapt a book, and I’ve adapted a couple: You don’t want to adapt it word for word, you want the essence to come through. With Harrison, though, it’s not easy to find someone with those kinds of qualities. He’s like Spencer Tracy, and what does a young Spencer Tracy look like?”
Kasdan didn’t go into any specifics on their reactions to certain auditions or offer up any hints as to who their potential frontrunner might be, but he did reaffirm thatGeorge Lucasoriginally had a Han Solo spinoff film in mind before handing franchise responsibilities over toKathleen Kennedy. And while he wasn’t privy to Lucas' original ideas forEpisode VII, he did comment on just how hard it is to keep secrets in the Age of Social Media:
“Everything is different, and I don’t even think of it so much as Twitter as it is the beast of the internet,” said Kasdan. “The big thing is that you used to put out a trailer, and people would only see it if they went to the right movie. Now, you put out a picture and the entire world has it in five minutes! You put out a trailer, and there are 80 million views! A rumor or a spoiler can have 200 million views. That didn’t exist in the past.
It’s incredibly painful in the world of keeping franchise secrets,” he said. “It’s not incredibly painful inthe world.”
For more from Kasdan about the Han Solo anthology film and other works in theStar Warsuniverse, be sure to check out some of our recent coverage below:
