Han Solo Spin-Off Movie Eyeing Woody Harrelson For Solo’s Mentor
Man. Woody Harrelson in the Han Solo movie? As Solo’s mentor? Fucking fantastic, dude.
Woody Harrelson seems to building a nice career for himself as the go-to protégé for difficult young people. After guiding Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games and Nadine in The Edge of Seventeen, Harrelson is reportedly being eyed to play Han Solo’s mentor in the upcoming Star Wars spinoff, which is being directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller. The movie has already set Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian, Emilia Clarke as an unnamed female lead, and Alden Ehrenreich as the scruffy-looking nerf herder himself.
News of the potential Han Solo Woody Harrelson casting comes from Variety, which cautions that casting for the part is still in the early stages and that nothing is official at this point. However, according to their sources, Harrelson is Lucasfilm’s top choice. While Ehrenreich, Glover, and Clarke all young stars on the rise, the studio apparently wanted a more established actor for this particular role.
Harrelson has been very busy since The Hunger Games franchise ended in 2015. He appeared in Triple 9, Now You See Me 2, LBJ, and The Edge of Seventeen last year, and has War for the Planet of the Apes, Wilson, The Glass Castle, and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri all planned for this year.
Details on the plot of the Han Solo spinoff movie are being kept under wraps for now, though we do know it’ll be set before the events of Star Wars: A New Hope. Shooting is expected to begin this month. No additional information has been given about Harrelson’s possible character in the film, and we don’t know if he’ll be playing a previously established character or a brand new one. As of now, the spinoff is scheduled to land in theaters May 25, 2018, although rumors have been going around recently that Disney could push back the release to December.