Young Han Solo Injured in Young Hydraulic Door Accident
PINEWOOD STUDIOS – In a bizarre case of life imitating art, actor Alden Ehrenreich was injured on the set of Solo: A Star Wars Story by an early prototype of the very same hydraulic door that fell on Harrison Ford during production of The Force Awakens. Directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller tag-teamed to pry loose the large metal door from Ehrenreich’s leg, but not before jokes also landed atop the young star of Solo.
We’re told Woody Harrelson, who plays young Han Solo’s criminal mentor Beckett, cracked wise before imparting a valuable life lesson on Ehrenreich – all while the actor rolled around on the floor in agony, with Lord and Miller heave-ho’ing in attempts to lift the door. Apparently, the entire scene strangely mirrors a pivotal moment in the film where Beckett gives Hanford (Solo’s name before he receives the nickname Han) a similar piece of advice akin to “Head’s up!”
After 10 minutes, Lord and Miller managed to free Ehrenreich from under the door, but it appears the damage was already done. According to medics who assessed him on the M Stage close to where the young Millennium Falcon was parked, the actor suffered a “bloody awful broken leg.”
A spokesman for Disney said: “Alden Ehrenreich sustained an ankle injury during filming today on the set of young Han Solo. He was taken to a local hospital and is receiving care the same way old Han Solo did two or three years ago.”
Ehrenreich was taken by air ambulance to the John Radcliffe hospital in Oxford with a suspected fracture in his ankle. It’s unclear how his injuries will disrupt the Solo production, though we’ve heard rumblings that filming will not be postponed. An FSW source close to the production claims Lord and Miller will shoot everyone else’s scenes first, potentially expanding Harrelson’s role to cover off on Ehrenreich’s absence. It seems the directing duo are even considering the use of a CG rendition of Alden, slightly tweaked to better resemble a young Harrison Ford, in at least one scene.
For Disney, there may be even bigger concerns than which young Solo is CG versus practical. The Health and Safety Executive is launching an investigation into the incident, given the eerie similarities to the injuries sustained by Ford in 2014. That incident resulted in Foodles Production – a Disney company – being fined $2 million for health and safety breaches. There’s no telling what the new penalty for injuries sustained by a younger Han Solo will be.
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