6 May – Having successfully beaten over 2,500 hopefuls, relatively unknown actor Alden Ehrenreich is set to star as the young Han Solo in the upcoming "Star Wars" spinoff centred on the smuggler-turned-hero. The 26-year-old is currently in final negotiations, according to The Hollywood Reporter, to lead the standalone movie. Ehrenreich came out on top, managing to beat other finalists, Taron Egerton ("Kingsman: The Secret Service") and Jack Reynor ("Transformers: Age of Extinction's"). Other actors who were also previously considered to be the lead include Miles Teller ("Fantastic Four"), Ansel Elgort ("The Fault in Our Stars") and Emory Cohen ("Brooklyn"). Ehrenreich's most well-known big screen portrayals to date are Ethan Wate in 2013's "Beautiful Creatures" and Hobie Doyle in this year's "Hail, Caesar!", in which he was dubbed a scene-stealer as he managed to outshine A-listers such as George Clooney and Channing Tatum. He will no doubt go from a relative unknown to a big star as he had secured one of the most iconic characters in the cinematic world. First popularised by Harrison Ford in 1977's "Star Wars", Han Solo is one of the most-sought after roles to play after it was announced last year that a standalone movie was in the making. Yet to be officially titled, the movie will be directed by Christopher Miller and Phil Lord ("The Lego Movie", "21 Jump Street", "22 Jump Street") from a script by father-son writing team Lawrence Kasdan ("The Empire Strikes Back", "Return of the Jedi", "The Force Awakens") and Jon Kasdan. The Han Solo movie is expected to open in cinemas on 25 May 2018. (Photo source: Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)