Out promoting his new Netflix limited series “All the Light We Cannot See,” filmmaker Shawn Levy touched upon the status of his “Star Wars” film project.
Back in November 2022, the “Night at the Museum” and “The Adam Project” helmer was announced as being in talks to develop a new “Star Wars” film which he will direct. Plot details are under wraps and no writer was attached at the time.
At last report Levy would go to work on the project once he wrapped up his commitments to the third “Deadpool” movie which was halfway through shooting recently before the industry strikes halted production.
Speaking with Collider, he says development on his “Star Wars” project has unsurprisingly stalled – but the film is very much alive:
“We were just starting the process of developing my movie, and the writer strike happened. So we are in that holding pattern that so much of our industry is in.”
He then added the situation is almost exactly the same for his planned “Real Steel” series. Levy was honored at the TIFF Tribute Awards this week and Taika Waititi, a fellow director who also has long had a “Star Wars” project in development, reportedly joked (via Variety) about Levy’s “Star Wars” film saying: “unlike me, let’s hope he manages to finish a script for that.”
Levy, who is also slated to direct at least two episodes of the fifth and final season of “Stranger Things” which he produces, also spoke about the status of a sequel to the Ryan Reynolds-led action comedy “Free Guy”. He tells the outlet that project is still in the works, but funnily enough the success of “Barbie” has forced them to creatively shake up the sequel:
“We love Free Guy and the love for Free Guy that has kind of resonated in aftershocks, if you will, in the last couple of years. That’s been thrilling to Ryan [Reynolds] and I. We are developing a sequel, but the truth is that you now have Barbie that has obviously left a mark about a character in a fictional world who comes to self-awareness. So, we’re only gonna make Free Guy 2 if it’s different than the first movie and if it’s different from other movies.”
Levy is expected to resume work on “Deadpool 3” once the strikes are over and so likely couldn’t do any serious work on a “Star Wars” film until well into next year. His film is entirely separate from the three announced new “Star Wars” films in development which already have other directors like James Mangold and Dave Filoni attached.
