The list of hopefuls to play a young Han Solo has now been whittled down significantly, thanks to a raft of screentests that have taken place.

Although it's still a long way away from our screens, the list we published a few weeks ago now looks to have brought forth its frontrunner - Alden Ehrenreich, who previously starred in the Coens' Hail Caesar! and Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine. The report suggests that Ehrenreich's screentest was by the far the most impressive, apparently knocking out the competition from Taron Egerton and our own Jack Reynor.

The casting process is, of course, under lock and key and there's every possibility that this might be a fake-out of some kind or even a press campaign by Ehrenreich's people. Stranger things have happened, to be sure.

However, out of the possible casting choices, Ehrenreich seems to us like he's the best choice. Reynor doesn't have the physical similarities and his accent, bless him, stands against him. Taron Egerton was probably thrown in because Kingsman: The Secret Service did huge business when everyone expected it to fail. Ehrenreich has built a fairly solid career to date and taking the plunge into blockbuster territory is the next logical step for him.

Look at Adam Driver's filmography and it's of a similar vein to Ehrenreich. Supporting roles in some pretty well-known films by strong directors, a TV show or two - it's the same, really.

The as-yet-untitled Han Solo movie, which has been codenamed Red Cup, is slated for a May 25th 2018 release.

 

Via Deadline