Christian Bale in a Star Wars movie? Hey, why the Hell not? He doesn’t generally do big tentpole movies, unless you count Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, but apparently he considered taking a role in Solo: A Star Wars Story, the same one that ultimately went to another screen veteran, Woody Harrelson. Bale confirmed it on the Happy Sad Confused podcast…
“Yes, [it was] very tempting. I not only love the films, going back to my childhood, but also have a very long relationship with Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall because they did Empire of the Sun many years back. There was discussion, [and] I hope there will be future discussions.”
Bale doesn’t really go into specifics on what happened. We don’t know if things progressed far enough that he was made an offer and turned it down. At that time Phil Lord and Chris Miller were the directors and I doubt their loose-knit comedic style would have suited him, anyway. However I think he would have fit in with Ron Howard’s traditional approach just fine. The role went to Harrelson, taking on the role of Solo’s mentor Beckett, and it’s tough to complain about that.
However, something tells me this won’t be the last we hear of this. Bale’s connection with Kennedy and Marshall may have them dialing his number for a future Star Wars movie. Doesn’t he seem like the perfect guy to play a Jedi Master?
Solo: A Star Wars Story opens May 25th. You can see Bale in theaters now as part of Scott Cooper’s Western drama, Hostiles.
