Harrison Ford could reprise his role as Han Solo in Star Wars in a new film set for release in 2015 after Disney bought the studio behind the sci-fi saga, a report said.

As a character he was not so interesting to me

The 70-year-old has previously appeared cool on the character he played in the first three Star Wars movies. But he has not ruled out returning for what will be the seventh film in the series.

“Harrison is open to the idea of doing the movie and he’s upbeat about it, all three of them are,” a “highly-placed” source told the Entertainment Weekly, referring to Ford and fellow actors Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher.

Ford found fame in the first Star Wars film in 1977 and played his part again in the second and third instalments, which made up the initial trilogy.

He did not appear in the second trilogy, made between 1999-2005, and has been generally dismissive of his character, telling an ABC interviewer in 2010: “As a character he was not so interesting to me.”

“I don’t know that I understood it very well,” he said of the Star Wars phenomenon, adding: “I’m not sure I understand it yet. I was very happy to be involved. I was pleased to be a part of an ensemble.”

Entertainment Weekly said in its report that Ford – who went on to big screen success including megastardom in the blockbuster Indiana Jones films – will not commit to the new Star Wars film until a director and script are confirmed.

Either could be a deal breaker, it said.

Walt Disney Company announced last week that it was buying Star Wars director George Lucas’s film company for $4 billion (€3 billion), and plans to revive the classic sci-fi series.

Star Wars 7 will be released in 2015, “with more feature films expected to continue the Star Wars saga and grow the franchise well into the future,” said Disney in announcing the deal to buy Lucasfilm.