LOS ANGELES, Jan. 5 (UPI) — Woody Harrelson is being eyed to join the cast of Disney’s upcoming “Star Wars” standalone film about a young Han Solo.
According to Variety, Harrelson is in early negations to join the film and is the studio’s top choice to play Han Solo’s mentor opposite Alden Ehrenreich who is stepping into the title role made famous by Harrison Ford.
In addition to Harrelson and Ehrenreich, the project has also cast Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian and Emilia Clarke in an unspecified role.
As noted by “The Hollywood Reporter,” Han Solo was given a mentor and a backstory in the 1997 novel “The Paradise Snare” by A.C. Crispin, the first entry in “The Han Solo Trilogy.”
While Disney has made the “Star Wars” Expanded Universe that was featured in novels noncanonical, the story prominently featured a character named Shrike who was a bounty hunter turned space pirate who adopted Solo and taught him everything he knew.
Directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the Han Solo spinoff film is expected to arrive in theaters on May 25, 2018.
