Woody Harrelson eyed to play Han Solo’s mentor in Star Wars spinoff

LOS ANGELES — After playing a mentor to Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games franchise, Woody Harrelson might help guide another iconic character’s journey.

Sources tell Variety that, while talks are still in the early stages, Harrelson is the top choice to play Han Solo’s mentor in the upcoming Star Wars spinoff starring Alden Ehrenreich.

Donald Glover and Emilia Clarke also star, with Phil Lord and Chris Miller directing. Disney had no comment.

The movie will be set prior to Star Wars: A New Hope, like the other Star Wars standalone project, Rogue One, which hit theatres on Dec 16.

Kathleen Kennedy and Allison Shearmur are producing the spinoff film, which is expected to begin production in January. The movie is slated to hit theatres on May 25, 2018. Harrelson and Shearmur have close ties from their work on The Hunger Games, when Shearmur was overseeing the project for Lionsgate.

The ensemble has already begun filling with rising stars, but executives wanted this role to go to an actor with considerable clout, and started meeting with actors over the past several weeks.

The first Star Wars story, Rogue One, has set the bar high. Along with overwhelmingly positive reviews, it has grossed more than US$800 million (S$1.2 billion) worldwide, and is still in theatres.

In the past year, Harrelson has kept busy, appearing in the cop drama Triple Nine, Now You See Me 2, LBJ, and The Edge of Seventeen.

The coming year looks just as busy, with The Glass Castle opposite Brie Larson, Wilson, and the highly anticipated War of the Planet of the Apes, in which he plays the new antagonist. He is repped by CAA. VARIETY.COM/REUTERS