Everyone and their mother is slightly worried about Han Solo: A Star Wars Story. The big question is: Can Alden Ehrenreich capture the essence of Harrison Ford while making the character his own without this looking like the world's biggest fan film? Well, a new fan film is actually giving fans hope for the next Star Wars spin-off, and it's clear that Internet impressionist Jamie Costa knows how to embody the iconic smuggler while making us slightly forget Ford, if just for a second.
Costa transcends the material here, and actually looks and feels like a young Han Solo. In fact, it may worry some who think Alden Ehrenreich won't be able to catch up. Ehrenreich has nothing to worry about, as he's signed a 3-picture deal with Disney, and isn't in danger of losing the role...Yet. The whole scenario may remind one of when the band Unlocking the Truth got a million dollar deal from Sony, and another kid came on Youtube, blowing them away with a cover of one of their songs, as captured in the movie Breaking a Monster. Yes, it's exactly like that.
While Han Solo doesn't have a proper title at the moment, this fan film is called A Smuggler's Trade. It was crafted by Jamie Costa, Keith Allen, Jared Bell, and Nathan Nauert and is available on Youtube. If you don't normally sit through the entirety of fan films, you may be surprised to pull back from the computer and discover that you've consumed the entire 13 minutes of this online opus, especially considering that nothing short of 3 minutes on the Internet sometimes feels like an eternity. About the movie, Jamie Costa says this.
"Star Wars fans and filmmakers joined together to celebrate the galaxy's favorite Corellian smuggler! Han Solo sets out on a new adventure in this Star Wars fan film! *This is a non-profit unofficial fan-film that is not intended for commercial use. It was made solely for fun. Characters are owned by Lucasfilm/Disney and this fan-film is not connected in any way to said companies. We hope you enjoy :)"
Han Solo: A Star Wars Story begins shooting this February, and we should be getting our first look at Chewbacca, Alden Ehrenreich's Young Han Solo and Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian in an official image from Disney and Lucasfilm soon. It was revealed earlier this week that Ehrenreich met with Harrison Ford over lunch to discuss the making of Han Solo, so it's nice to known that the original space pirate is in the mix at least just a little bit. And it was revealed that Woody Harrelson is playing Solo's mentor in the movie.
Though, even with the big budget nature of the real deal Han Solo movie, it's hard not to give props to Jamie Costa here as Han Solo. He has the gestures down, he's got the swagger, the perfect smirk, and he's perfected the finger pointing to a degree that is almost disturbing. Will Alden Ehrenreich be able to stick the landing as well? Well, he certainly has a lot to live up to. Take a look.