Although the first Star Wars spin-off has been rumoured to focus on Han Solo, it looks as though director Gareth Edwards is actually looking for a female lead.
It’s no surprise that the first Star Wars spin-off film is shrouded in secrecy. After all, it’s one of Disney and Lucasfilm’s most ambitious projects to date… and almost certainly their riskiest.
But while we’ve heard rumours of smugglers and bounty hunters and Ocean’s Eleven style heist plotline, there’s one thing we weren’t expecting – a female lead.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, it looks as though Tatiana Maslany and Rooney Mara are both up for the leading role in the first ever Star Wars spinoff.
“Tatiana Maslany, the Canadian actress who stars as multiple replicants in BBC America’s hit series Orphan Black, is testing for the female lead in the Star Wars spinoff,” they revealed. “Rooney Mara, who starred in the David Fincher version of Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, is also due to test this week among a handful of others.”
And that’s not all – it seems that Amazing Spider-Man 2 actress Felicity Jones might also be up for the role.
“Felicity Jones, who just received an Oscar nomination for best actress for her work in The Theory of Everything, is said to be on the want list, although there may be scheduling issues with Inferno, the Da Vinci Code sequel that Ron Howard is due to direct this spring and summer.”
“Insiders say that reading and testing for the movie occurred in the U.K. in December and has now moved stateside.”
But what does this mean for the first Star Wars spin-off?
Obviously, this seems to go against most of what we’ve heard – that this film is going to focus on a young Han Solo. I mean, would Han Solo really be a secondary character in a Star Wars movie?
Unfortunately, almost nothing is known about the movie… or the character that these young actresses are queuing up to play. All we know so far is that the first script has been submitted by Gary Whitta before he exited the project. And that Gareth Edwards is set to direct.
But apart from that, the movie remains shrouded in mystery.
I can’t help thinking that we have to find out something sooner or later… and with the film expected to start filming sometime this year, it likely won’t be long before we get some idea about the first Star Wars spin-off.
Will it feature a smuggler? Bounty hunters? Han Solo? For now, we’ll have to wait and see… but one thing that’s looking certain is that it will have a female lead.
The first Star Wars spin-off heads to cinemas on 16 December 2016.
Are you looking forward to the first Star Wars spin-off? Who would you like to see in the lead role? Let us know what you think in the comments below…
