Caffeinated Clint
Disney are shooting big as far as casting on the upcoming “Star Wars” standalone film goes.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, big-timer Rooney Mara (“Pan”, “Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”) is testing for a role in the movie – a movie which may or may not be about Space Pirates, and feature a young Han Solo. While the plot remains under wraps, the team behind the film haven’t been kept secret – Gareth Edwards is directing, with Simon Kinberg consulting, and Gary Whitta having written the first incarnation of the screenplay (Whitta recently exited the project; he’ll be replaced – some say by Kinberg, but official sources say the “X-Men” scribe isn’t writing this one).
While the versatile Mara is undobtedly the biggest name in the mix, she’s not the only pretty young thing hoping to holiday to that Galaxy Far, Far Away. The trade says Tatiana Maslany, star of TV’s “Orphan Black”, and Felicity Jones, of “Amazing Spider-Man 2” and “The Theory of Everything”, are also in with a shot (Maslany more than Jones, considering she’s reportedly got a clash – the third “Da Vinci Code” movie, which she’s set to co-star opposite Tom Hanks in, would probably film at the same time).
It’s anyone’s guess who the young ladies are vying to play, but online scuttlebutt suggests that the film might feature a young Princess Leia (played by Carrie Fisher in the other films). If that’s the case, don’t expect Leia and Solo to meet up in the movie – they didn’t cross paths until 1977’s “Star Wars : A New Hope” (unless, of course, Leia and Solo, like the droids, also had their memories wiped).
Edwards’ “Star Wars” film, to be released in 2016, is one of two new standalone films set within the same universe as the George Lucas/JJ Abrams movies. The other, which doesn’t have a release date, will be directed by Josh Trank (though considering the bad word on his “Fantastic Four” movie, due out this year, Disney might rethink their decision to anoint Trank the captain of such a big project) and written by Kinberg and Lawrence Kasdan.
