Filmmaker Shawn Levy (“Deadpool & Wolverine,” “Real Steel”) is currently doing a bit of promotion for the final season of “Stranger Things” launching next week, while at the same time is still in the midst of production of the new “Star Wars: Starfighter” film starring Ryan Gosling.
As has been previously reported, the project is an all-new standalone adventure rumoured to be set five years after the defeat of Palpatine and the First Order in “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker”.
Speaking with Kim Masters on The Business podcast (via The Playlist) recently, Levy says he was surprised by how much trust and creative freedom he received from Lucasfilm in regards to the film and how unexpectedly liberating it has been. He says Lucasfilm first approached him in August 2022:
“[Kathleen Kennedy] said, ‘I want you to do a ‘Star Wars’ movie.’ And I said, ‘Well, what’s it a prequel to? What’s it a sequel to? Which one is it?’ The answer was, ‘It’s whatever you want it to be. You pick the writer, you pick the story, just imbue it with the feeling that your movies have.'”
That led to him suggesting: “let’s make an entirely original ‘Star Wars’ movie” and he brought in Jonathan Tropper to help write it. From there, Lucasfilm was the one pushing for it to be more and more standalone:
“There is no mandate or interference other than the constant encouragement, ‘Make this new.’ And that’s the truth.
Every time I’ve asked, ‘Should I use this character that was maybe in that movie?’ Every time it’s, ‘You know what? People have seen that. Do something new.’
Unlike ‘Solo’… unlike ‘Rise of Skywalker,’ which was a sequel to two other movies and ultimately a ninth film in the Skywalker saga, ‘Starfighter’ is all new characters based on new ideas that Jonathan and I cooked up alone and together.
It’s in a time period that’s never been in a ‘Star Wars’ movie. It is not about legacy characters. And while it does have, I hope, the sense of joy and adventure that ‘A New Hope’ introduced us to back in 1977, this is a new ‘Star Wars’ adventure”
Levy adds that Lucasfilm’s attitude has been quite incredibly hands-off throughout the process, though as he experienced in his trip to “Star Wars Celebration” in Japan it seems that he’s well aware of the pressure he’s under:
“So far, I’ve had more freedom on this movie… It’s equal to any other movie I’ve made, including the original movies like ‘Free Guy’ and ‘The Adam Project’.
It’s still terrifying. Let me make that clear. You still want to get it right. The appetite of the fan base and the expectations of the fan base are intense. And it’s palpable.
What I learned [at Celebration] is the thirst for something new at this moment in time. So I feel lucky that that’s what I’m making right now.”
“Star Wars: Starfighter” is expected to hit cinemas in May 2027.
