Millennium Falcon has a new pilot! Meet Alden Ehrenreich, the young Han Solo

Hail Caesar actor Alden Ehrenreich is set to play Han Solo in the second standalone Star Wars movie.

The official announcement is expected to be made by Disney/Lucasfilm once the deal is sealed, reported Ace Showbiz.

Last month, Ehrenreich was said as frontrunner for the role that was famously played by Harrison Ford in previous Star Wars movies.

The 26-year-old actor has starred in Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine, Richard LaGravenese's Beautiful Creatures and the Coen brothers' Hail Caesar.

Steven Spielberg first discovered Ehrenreich in a bat mitzvah video, reports The Hollywood Reporter. His antics in the video impressed the filmmaker and that opened the doors to tinsel town for him. After a couple of television appearances, Ehrenreich made his movie debut with Francis Ford Coppola's 2009 film, Tetro.

The second standalone Star Wars movie, expected to be called Han Solo: A Star Wars Story, will be directed by Chris Miller and Phil Lord with the script written by Lawrence Kasdan and his son Jon. Plot details are still kept under wraps, but the movie is described as an origin story about Han Solo and his best buddy Chewbacca.

Filming is set to start next January for a May 25, 2018 release in the US.

(With PTI inputs)