According to the Hollywood Reporter, 26-year-old Alden Ehrenreich has beaten out a huge number of hopefuls to play Harrison Ford's iconic role.

Ehrenreich, who is in final contract negotiations for the part, is best known for his role in the Coen Brothers film Hail, Caesar!, released this year.

However, he has been popping up on screen for a few years now, having had a small part in Woody Allen's 2013 film Blue Jasmine as well as starring in the 2013 romantic fantasy film Beautiful Creatures (for which he received a Teen Choice Award nomination for "best liplock" with co-star Alice Englert).

Ehrenreich is also scheduled to star alongside Jennifer Aniston and Toni Collette in Iraq War drama The Yellow Birds, scheduled for release later this year.

The as-yet-untitled Han Solo Star Wars spin-off is not scheduled for release until 2018.

In December last year, the Hollywood Reporter revealed more than 2500 actors had met for in-person auditions for the project, or submitted a tape.

At the time, the publication named Divergent's Ansel Elgort, Avengers star Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Harry Potter's Tom Felton and 21 Jump Street's Dave Franco among the young men vying for the role.

Ehrenreich was rumoured to be a frontrunner in March, when Deadline reported he had been taking part in secret screen tests for a project titled Red Cup. The project's secret name was believed to be a reference to Red Solo Cups.

The Hollywood Reporter said Ehrenreich had been testing for the role in London alongside Jack Reynor (Transformers: Age of Extinction) and Taron Egerton (The Kingsman).