So what’s going on with Shawn Levy’s Star Wars: Starfighter? Well, it turns out it’s undergoing some major production changes, as in reworking the whole final act. Levy revealed this info to my homie Kevin McCarthy on his latest podcast episode…
“We had a whole different idea for something in the third act, and then things didn’t align, and I was forced to come up with a new idea. And I’m literally right now shooting that section of the movie. And every day, I’m grateful that the way I was supposed to do it didn’t work out, because the new idea that it forced me to explore is so much better than the original idea would have been.”
Okay, so at least this change turned out for the better? Still, it’s weird that Levy would even admit this, especially the “forced” bit, because it invites all sorts of negative speculation, the kind that damages a movie before it’s even come out.
That said, Levy is having a blast, and says that his biggest Star Wars influence on Starfighter is Return of the Jedi…
“If I’m being honest, I know the cool answer would be ‘Empire,’ and sort of the inarguable answer would be ‘A New Hope,’ but it’s kinda ‘Jedi.’ It’s ‘Jedi’ because of the combination of theme, levity, adventure, heart, and spectacle. Somehow that movie just got it right for me.”
While Levy says working on a Star Wars movie is a challenge unlike anything he’s had before, he also says Kathleen Kennedy and Lucasfilm have been extremely open to what he wants to do. They only had a few mandates, which don’t sound that bad, at all.
“And I said, ‘Right, but like, which character, what movie is it?’ And she said, ‘You pick the writer. You pick the story. Just make it feel like a Shawn Levy movie. Make it warm-hearted, fun, and built for audience delight. That was the only mandate.’”
Levy is joined by his frequent collaborator, writer Jonathan Tropper, on Star Wars: Starfighter, which opens May 28th 2027. Ryan Gosling, Flynn Gray, Matt Smith, Mia Goth, Aaron Pierre, Simon Bird, Jamael Westman, Daniel Ings, and Amy Adams lead the cast.
