The last time we saw a Star Wars movie in theaters was in 2019 when The Rise of Skywalker capped off the Skywalker Saga in divisive fashion.
Lucasfilm has since focused on streaming series like Andor, The Mandalorian, and Obi-Wan Kenobi, but 2026 will see the franchise return to the big screen with The Mandalorian and Grogu. While several other movies are in various stages of development (or perhaps development hell), Star Wars: Starfighter is currently shooting and set for a 2027 release.
Deadpool & Wolverine and Stranger Things director Shawn Levy will be at the helm of the movie that reportedly takes place after the events of Episode IX. Ryan Gosling is leading Starfighter, and in a new interview, Levy revealed that he's recently had to completely rework the movie's third act.
"There was something unexpected on Starfighter," the filmmaker says in the video below. "It was, we had a whole different idea for something in the third act and then things didn’t align and I was forced to come up with a new idea. And I’m literally right now shooting that section of the movie."
"And everyday I’m grateful that the way I was supposed to do it didn’t work out, because the new idea that it forced me to explore is so much better than the original idea would have been," Levy added, admitting that he's feeling the pressure of telling a story in a Galaxy Far, Far Away.
"The first few weeks of shooting, it felt like this oppressive sort of cloud over me, because everyday they would come to me,. It’s a hundred questions a day. And especially Starfighter, it’s not a sequel, it’s not a prequel, it’s not legacy characters. And it’s not in a period of time in the galaxy that’s ever been explored."
Levy continued, "What this means is that we are inventing everything in the movie. And the desire to make design choices, character choices, planet choices, costume choices, droid choices, alien choices, all of it needs to feel Star Wars-y."
Assuming Star Wars: Starfighter is set a decade or two after The Rise of Skywalker, then that really is a period which hasn't been explored before. For starters, it'll depict a Galaxy no longer ruled by the Empire or First Order, meaning we'd expect some big changes, similar to the difference from the prequels to the original trilogy and sequels.
As Levy puts it, "I’m freaking determined to not let any of it feel derivative or lazily copycat. [Kathleen Kennedy told me], 'Make it original. You pick the writer. You pick the story. Just make it feel like a Shawn Levy movie. Make it warm-hearted and fun and built for audience delight.'"
As noted, the movie's cast will be led by Free Guy star Ryan Gosling. Joining him are Flynn Gray (Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2), Matt Smith (House of the Dragon), Mia Goth (Infinity Pool), Aaron Pierre (Lanterns), Simon Bird (The Inbetweeners), Jamael Westman (Hedda), Daniel Ings (Lovesick), and Amy Adams (Man of Steel).
Star Wars: Starfighter will be released theatrically on May 28, 2027.