--- description: Alden Ehrenreich will play a young Han Solo in an upcoming Star Wars spinoff, directors of the film said title: Alden Ehrenreich Cast as Han Solo in 'Star Wars' Spinoff image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc3008fd6d5627a06/69889c39a988ca5af26b8a5c/alden-ehrenreich-star-wars.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [movies](/tag/movies/) ## movies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Alden Ehrenreich Officially Cast as Han Solo in _Star Wars_ Spinoff  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 17, 2016 5:43 PM CUT  Alden Ehrenreich, who will play Han Solo, on stage during Future Directors Panel at the Star Wars Celebration 2016 at ExCel on July 17, 2016 in London, England. Alden Ehrenreich, who will play Han Solo, on stage during Future Directors Panel at the Star Wars Celebration 2016 at ExCel on July 17, 2016 in London, England.Ben A. Pruchnie—Getty Images  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 17, 2016 5:43 PM CUT [Alden Ehrenreich](http://time.com/4320548/star-wars-alden-ehrenreich-han-solo-movies/ "undefined") will play a young Han Solo in an upcoming _Star Wars_ spinoff, the directors of the film said. The _Hail, Caesar!_ actor was cast for the role of the standalone movie after auditioning for six months, he said at Star Wars Celebration Europe at the ExCel Centre in London, according to [_Deadline_](http://deadline.com/2016/07/star-wars-celebration-alden-ehrenreich-han-solo-episode-viii-rian-johnson-1201787697/ "undefined"). He was part of the first batch of 3,000 tryouts. The role was originally played by Harrison Ford. “When it first came along I knew everybody would be going out for it,” he said. “I read the sides and loved them and thought, ‘Who knows, but let me give it a shot.’” The film, which debuts in May 2018, will be directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, _Deadline_ reports. “We thought this was the hardest casting challenge of all time. They were the biggest boots to fill,” Miller said, according to [_Variety_](http://variety.com/2016/film/news/star-wars-episode-viii-details-alden-ehrenreich-han-solo-1201816017/ "undefined"). > [](https://twitter.com/starwars/status/754687858775040004) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4409714/alden-ehrenreich-star-wars/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4409714/alden-ehrenreich-star-wars/"},"headline":"Alden Ehrenreich Officially Cast as Han Solo in Star Wars Spinoff","datePublished":"2016-07-17T17:43:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T09:54:57.743Z","description":"\"This was the hardest casting challenge of all time\"","url":"https://time.com/4409714/alden-ehrenreich-star-wars/","keywords":["movies"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc3008fd6d5627a06/69889c39a988ca5af26b8a5c/alden-ehrenreich-star-wars.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc3008fd6d5627a06/69889c39a988ca5af26b8a5c/alden-ehrenreich-star-wars.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Star Wars Celebration 2016","caption":"Alden Ehrenreich, who will play Han Solo, on stage during Future Directors Panel at the Star Wars Celebration 2016 at ExCel on July 17, 2016 in London, England.","creditText":"Ben A. Pruchnie—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4409714/alden-ehrenreich-star-wars/","name":"Alden Ehrenreich Officially Cast as Han Solo in Star Wars Spinoff"}}]}] ```