Woody Harrelson heads to 'Star Wars' galaxy for young Han Solo film

Woody Harrelson's heading into the galaxy far, far away to join an intergalactic band of scruffy nerf-herders.

Lucasfilm announced Wednesday that the Hunger Games actor has signed on for an as-yet-unrevealed role in the upcoming young Han Solo Star Wars movie, scheduled for release in 2018. Harrelson will be joining Alden Ehrenreich (who's been cast in the part Harrison Ford made famous), Donald Glover (as Lando Calrissian) and Emilia Clarke in the second spinoff Star Wars Story following Rogue One.

The Solo film will follow the adventures of the rogue-ish smuggler in his early days before the events of George Lucas' original 1977 Star Wars.

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“We couldn’t be more excited to work with an artist with as much depth and range as Woody,” the film’s directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (The LEGO Movie) said in a statement. “His ability to find both humor and pathos, often in the same role, is truly unique. He is also very good at ping pong.”

The Oscar-nominated Harrelson, who had a role in last year's coming-of-age comedy The Edge of Seventeen, stars in the upcoming comedy Wilson (in theaters March 24) and plays a villain in the summer sequel War for the Planet of the Apes (July 14).