After 40 years, you'd be forgiven for not being able to appreciate anyone other than Harrison Ford as Han Solo in the 'Star Wars' franchise. But all that's changed with the release of 'Solo: A Star Wars Story' and, as it turns out, the actor could not be more thrilled with the iconic character's origin story.

Harrison Ford at Mark Hamill's Walk of Fame ceremonyHarrison Ford at Mark Hamill's Walk of Fame ceremony

While the 75-year-old is yet to give his own statement with regards to the new film, director Ron Howard has insisted that he has most certainly given his seal of approval. According to him, Alden Ehrenreich could not have done a better job as the young Rebel pilot.

'I had never heard Harrison [being] effusive about anything, and he was raving about it', Ron told MovieWeb. 'He said, 'Alden nailed it. He made it his own.''

The director added that the veteran actor 'adores' the film and has already seen it twice - before it's even hit theatres. Certainly, Harrison and Alden have become quite good pals since the latter landed the role, with Harrison even surprising him by showing up during an interview recently.

It certainly makes all the difficulties and hard work on the movie totally worth it. 'Solo' hasn't been the easiest venture to bring to fruition, largely because of the departure of directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller in summer 2017 over creative differences with LucasFilm. That meant Ron Howard had to complete and re-shoot around 70% of the movie, though it didn't slow down progress too much because they've managed to make the original release date.

The next 'Star Wars' film to be release is 'Episode IX' next year, set to follow events from 'The Last Jedi'. Meanwhile, the as-yet-untitled live action TV series is also expected to air in 2019.

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'Solo: A Star Wars Story' will be released on May 25th 2018.