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'Star Wars': Alden Ehrenreich talks the likelihood of returning to play Han Solo

Solo: A Star Wars Story (Credit: Disney/Lucasfilm)
Solo: A Star Wars Story (Credit: Disney/Lucasfilm)

Unfortunately, Alden Ehrenreich was the lead actor in the first Star Wars movie in the storied franchise's history to lose money.

Solo: A Star Wars Story, in which Ehrenreich played the young Han Solo, had all the pedigree to be a great chapter in the series, but made less than $400 million at the box office.

It needed $500 million to break even, and lost Disney 'tens of millions', according to Variety.

As such, a sequel might not be on the cards, but there have been 'rumours'.

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Speaking to Esquire, he said: “No, I don’t know anything about that. I mean, you know, I think our movie was kind of the last of the conventional-era Star Wars movie release time.”

However, he did seem open to the prospect of playing the galactic smuggler again, adding: “It depends on what it is. It depends on how it’s done. It depends if it feels innate to the story.”

Actor Woody Harrelson, from left, director Ron Howard, actress Emilia Clarke and actor Alden Ehrenreich pose for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film 'Solo: A Star Wars Story' at the 71st international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 15, 2018. (Photo by Arthur Mola/Invision/AP)
Woody Harrelson, director Ron Howard, actress Emilia Clarke and actor Alden Ehrenreich at Cannes, 2018 (Credit: Arthur Mola/Invision/AP)

He adds that he's also not kept up with the Star Wars franchise since, and hasn't even seen the divisive final chapter, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and wasn't 100% sure of the name of spin-off series The Mandalorian on Disney+.

As for the work involved in the project itself, he said: “It was basically a three-year experience from pre-production to the release of the movie, and I just wanted to be a person, connect with people in my life, spend time and develop as a person outside of those worlds. And then you never know.”

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Though he later adds that he's 'heard soooome stuff' from the Star Wars universe, 'but nothing concrete'.

Fans would, of course, doubtless love Solo to turn up somewhere else in the spin-offs.

The movie, despite its disastrous box office takings, was reviewed pretty well, and received none of the fan fury that some of the main Star Wars sequel movies did.

Miller and Lord with the Solo cast (Credit: Twitter)
Miller and Lord with the Solo cast (Credit: Twitter)

There were issues in the making of it, however, with Ron Howard replacing original directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, of the Jump Street movies, after producer Kathleen Kennedy disagreed with their reportedly comedic vision for the film.

The resultant upheaval sent the budget sky-rocketing, ending up in the $300 million region, more than The Rise of Skywalker cost to make.

But it was likely franchise fatigue which ultimately did for it, with Solo coming out just a few months after Rian Johnson's The Last Jedi, which proved to be divisive among some fans of the franchise.