Franchise has new Solo act
The trail isn’t far from Cruz’s old stomping grounds. The 43-year-old, Spanish-born, international superstar lived near Christopher St. in the Village in the ’90s.
Gapparently coming in threes for actor who’s been tapped to play Han Solo in the upcoming “Star Wars” spinoff depicting the intergalactic scavenger’s early years. Disney has quietly signed the 26-yearold “Hail, Caesar!” star (inset) to a three-picture deal, insiders tell Confidenti@l, paving the way for more Han Solo flicks if the one being written strikes gold at the box office.
Publicly, the movie giant has revealed plans for only one, untitled prequel featuring the wily Millennium Falcon captain, helmed by “Lego Movie” directors
and “There is a real sense of excitement around the Han Solo movie and its potential,” says our insider. “Given that Han’s early adventures do not need to be tied to the Empire, it leaves story lines open with the opportunity to really give fans something different. They can explore new galaxies and crazy creatures and bring in a wide array of new characters.
“They feel that his character has the right potential to become a central figure in several movies,” our source said. “They’re keeping things under wraps at the moment, but the deal is that he has signed for at least three movies.”
The L.A.-raised Ehrenreich — who was discovered by at a bat mitzvah — beat out thousands of hopefuls to play the space cowboy made famous by
Short-listers included “Whiplash” star British box-office draw and Irish actor of “Transformers: Age of Extinction.”
So far, little has been revealed about the upcoming movie, which has yet to be titled, and is currently being scripted by “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi” writer and his son It’s scheduled for release in May 2018.
In the meantime, Disney’s decision to buy the Star Wars franchise from has been paying off massively: The sequel “The Force Awakens” has made over $3 billion in box-office revenue, marketing and merchandising deals, and it’s likely that another upcoming spinoff, “Rogue One,” will equal that sum.