As Star Wars: The Force Awakens continues to break box office records, attention is turning to the other films set in that galaxy far, far away. The massive casting sweep is underway to find actors to tackle the challenge of playing a younger Han Solo in one of the stand-alones and now there is a shortlist with the potential for whoever does get the role popping up in Gareth Edwards' Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
With thousands of young actors having auditioned, the list has now been whittled down to a much more manageable number, with Variety reporting that the expected likes of Ansel Elgort, Miles Teller, Dave Franco, Jack Reynor, Scott Eastwood and Logan Lerman are on it alongside newer names such as Emory Cohen and Blake Jenner.
The push is apparently for directors Chris Miller and Phil Lord to make their choice in the next couple of weeks, which would also give time for whoever wins the role to potentially show up in Rogue One, set in the years shortly before Star Wars itself, and still in production for a December 16 release this year.
Apparently, the thinking is that the Lucasfilm team could take a page from Marvel's book and introduce the new Han much the same way the Tom Holland's incarnation of Peter Parker/Spider-Man will appear in Captain America: Civil War before his own film. Of course, all that part of the story remains firmly in rumour territory, so we naturally have to dig out this old friend{
What is known is that Lord and Miller will be working from a script by Force Awakens co-writer/Star Wars stalwart Lawrence Kasdan and his son Jon. The movie, whatever it ends up being called, is aiming for a May 25, 2018 release date. More news on whoever inherits Harrison Ford's blaster when we know it.
For eveything we know about Rogue One, read our complete guide.