It’s beginning to seem strange when a few days go by without a rumor regarding J.J. Abrams’ upcoming Star Wars: Episode VII. Thankfully, there’s a pretty major one that recently arrived online involving Harrison Ford — or more specifically, his smuggler alter ego, Han Solo.
According to Deadline, Ford’s role as Han Solo will be “gigantic” in the first film of the new Star Wars trilogy, which recently kicked off production in London. While Ford is expected to join returning cast members Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Peter Mayhew in Episode VII, their roles were initially expected to be relatively small cameos that served to link the new trilogy to the previous films. Naturally, Disney has declined to comment on the rumor.
The recent report also links a few more actors to roles in Episode VII, with Inside Llewyn Davis star Oscar Isaac rumored for a significant role in the film, as well as the relatively unknown young actress Maisie Richardson-Sellers. While nothing is official at this point, the clock is ticking now that production has begun on the film, and studio-sanctioned casting announcements are anticipated any day now.
Of course, there may be little need for official confirmation regarding Ford, Fisher, and Hamill, as each actor was spotted in London over the last few days, making their presence a little too convenient to write off as coincidence, especially with the first table read of the script believed to be happening there this week. So far, the only character officially confirmed to return for the new film is R2-D2, although Mayhew’s deal to return as Chewbacca was reportedly finalized earlier this month.
Star Wars: Episode VII is currently scheduled to hit theaters December 18, 2015.
