Ryan Gosling, Shawn Levy team up for 'Star Wars: Starfighter'
What's the story
Lucasfilm has officially announced the title and release date for its upcoming Star Wars film, Star Wars: Starfighter. The announcement was made by Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy and Chief Creative Officer Dave Filoni at the Star Wars Celebration event in Tokyo on Friday. Directed by Shawn Levy and starring Ryan Gosling, the film will start production in fall 2025 and hit theaters on May 28, 2027.
Twitter Post
Take a look at the announcement
Star Wars: Starfighter comes to theaters on May 28, 2027. #StarWarsCelebrationpic.twitter.com/dsbVb3VdBY
— Star Wars (@starwars)April 18, 2025
Plot details
'Starfighter' to introduce new characters, set post-'Rise of Skywalker'
Star Wars: Starfighter will welcome new characters into the galaxy far, far away, taking place roughly five years after the events of Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker. Jonathan Tropper has written the screenplay for the film. He is known for writing Levy's films The Adam Project and This Is Where I Leave You, as well as creating the Apple TV+ series Your Friends & Neighbors. No additional casting details have been revealed yet.
Fan interaction
Gosling and Levy shared excitement at Star Wars Celebration
During the Star Wars Celebration livestream, both Gosling and Levy gushed about the project. Gosling, wearing a cap that read, "Never tell me the odds," told the audience, "Being here and seeing all of you [makes it] more inspiring to do it." Levy added, "We're fans too... We know how meaningful it is. There's obviously a relationship between these stories and the audience, but we've spent our lives in that audience. We know how meaningful it is."
Career highlights
Levy's directorial success and Gosling's franchise leap
This project is Levy's directorial follow-up after his last successful Marvel Studios movie, Deadpool & Wolverine. It grossed a whopping $1.3 billion globally and became the highest-grossing R-rated feature ever. Gosling, who was last seen in the action-heavy romcom The Fall Guy, is taking a new leap into the Star Wars franchise with Starfighter. The film will release over a year after the next Star Wars theatrical feature, The Mandalorian & Grogu, which hits theaters on May 22, 2026.