Star Wars: Starfighter announced at Star Wars Celebration

Shawn Levy (Deadpool & Wolverine) will direct Ryan Gosling if and when the thing actually goes into production.

The Star Wars Celebration is a fun and frustrating time for fans of the franchise. Fun because it’s when Disney and Lucasfilm drop all kinds of news about what direction the Galaxy will be taking in the near future. Trailers, title announcements, casting announcements, exclusive footage. And some of those turn out to be accurate in the medium term. Others get mired in the bog of development, about three parsecs south of Dagobah. That’s the frustrating part.

We’re just saying there hasn’t been a theatrical Star Wars movie since 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker, a film that pleased few and appeased even less. And while plenty have been announced (Rian Johnson, Taika Waititi, James Mangold, and Dave Filoni are all preparing directorial efforts, we’re told) the only one firmly on the release state is Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian and Grogu, with the powers that be praying that the streaming audience for The Mandalorian will turn out for the helmeted hunter’s big screen adventures on May 22, 2026. I have my doubts.

But now a new contender has been added to the ranks of Mooted Star Wars Projects. Star Wars: Starfighter sees director Shawn Levy and star (and presumably starfighter pilot) Ryan Gosling team up for an adventure set some five years after The Rise of Skywalker. The announcement was made at this year’s Star Wars Celebration in Japan, with Levy and Gosling on hand to give maddeningly few details other than a release date: May 28, 2027.

Interesting and troubling news. Interesting because Gosling’s goofy charm might fit Star Wars perfectly. Troubling because Shawn Levy is a really nice guy who has never made a movie I loved. And given he’s directed 16, that’s a bad hit rate. Even more troubling because he’s bringing his The Adam Project screenwriter Jonathan Tropper, who’s never written a movie I could stand.

But for now all we have is a release date. But that’s a dim hope at best – this wouldn’t be the first starfighter-themed Star Wars project to vanish after a big announcement.