With Harrison Ford temporarily out of commission on the set of J.J. Abrams’ highly anticipated “Star Wars: Episode VII,” Hollywood sources say that star Oscar Isaac’s role in the movie is being expanded.
Details of Isaac’s role have been kept strictly secret — but there’s speculation he plays a descendant or even the son of Ford’s Han Solo character, who has “an especially large role.” But after Ford was injured on the sci-fi epic’s set, spies say Isaac’s part is now being extended as a Plan B.
“They are now beefing up Oscar’s role to be bigger with Harrison injured,” said a source familiar with the project that’s currently shooting at London’s Pinewood Studios.
Rumors have spread that Ford’s injuries, suffered on June 12 at Pinewood when a door fell on him from the iconic spaceship the Millennium Falcon, are worse than first thought.
He broke his left leg, underwent surgery Thursday and will go through rehab before returning to work. He was expected to be out for six to eight weeks. Disney has stated, “Shooting will continue as planned while he recuperates.”
But a Jedi News blog sent “Star Wars” fans into a frenzy this week by reporting Ford could be gone for six months or longer and that after “an emergency meeting at Pinewood . . . the film could have little option but to either cease production, rewrite the script to remove Ford from the film altogether, or at the very least make significant changes to accommodate Ford’s recovery schedule.” But to stem any panic, the website added, “This is just a rumor.”
Another “Star Wars” source told us: “Shutting down the movie is impossible,” and, “The basic story line will not change that much.” The source said no characters were being dramatically expanded, but “the order of filming scenes could be shifted” to work around Ford’s absence.
Isaac graduated from the Coen brothers’ folk music movie “Inside Llewyn Davis” to the latest “Star Wars.”
Reps for Disney said of Isaac’s role being expanded, “This is categorically not true.”