The Force is strong with Ryan Gosling. Lucasfilm has officially announced that the Oscar-nominated actor will star in a brand-new instalment of the Star Wars franchise titled Star Wars: Starfighter. Directed by Shawn Levy, the film is slated for theatrical release on May 28, 2027, with production expected to kick off this fall.
The highly anticipated project was revealed during Lucasfilm’s annual Star Wars Celebration event in Tokyo, where Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy and chief creative officer Dave Filoni confirmed the long-rumoured collaboration between Ryan Gosling and Shawn Levy. The announcement marks a major shift in the franchise’s direction, with Starfighter introducing entirely new characters and taking place roughly five years after the events of The Rise of Skywalker.
Jonathan Tropper, known for his work on The Adam Project and This Is Where I Leave You, penned the screenplay of Starfighter. Jonathan Tropper has a long-standing creative relationship with Shawn Levy, and his addition signals a character-driven approach to storytelling in this new chapter of the Star Wars saga.
Appearing on stage with Shawn Levy at the Tokyo event, Ryan Gosling embraced the moment with a nod to classic Star Wars humour, wearing a cap emblazoned with the phrase, “Never tell me the odds.” He spoke passionately to the crowd of fans:
“There’s so much creativity and imagination in this room and so much love. It’s such a great reminder of how much movies can mean to us, specifically how much these movies mean to us. The force is a mysterious thing, but, as I’m here, the force is the fans. All we can hope for is, ‘May the fans be with us.’”
Shawn Levy echoed Ryan Gosling’s sentiment, saying, “We’re fans too. We know how meaningful these stories are. We’ve spent our lives in the audience.”
While plot details are tightly under wraps, Starfighter is set to be a standalone film, separate from the core Skywalker storyline, but firmly set within the Star Wars universe. No additional casting announcements have been made yet, but the involvement of Gosling, a typically franchise-averse actor, has already stirred considerable buzz. Known for his roles in Barbie and Blade Runner 2049, Ryan Gosling’s entry into the Star Wars world marks a bold new chapter for both the actor and the galaxy far, far away.
This will be Shawn Levy’s first foray into the Star Wars universe following his box-office juggernaut Deadpool & Wolverine, which became the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time after its release in July 2024.
Starfighter will hit theatres just over a year after the next planned Star Wars feature, The Mandalorian & Grogu, which is set for a May 22, 2026, release. That film, a spinoff from the Disney+ hit series The Mandalorian, recently wrapped principal photography.
With Starfighter, Lucasfilm appears poised to usher in a new era for the franchise—one led by fresh talent, standalone narratives, and renewed excitement among fans across the galaxy.
