Forced Rethink Turned Star Wars: Starfighter's Third Act Into Its Best Version Yet, Says Shawn Levy
Ryan Gosling and Flynn Gray join forces in an upcoming film primed to ignite the big screen.
Shawn Levy just pulled back the curtain on his Star Wars movie, and the big news is about the ending. The third act of Star Wars: Starfighter was completely rebuilt before cameras rolled, and Levy says the last-minute pivot turned out to be the better path. He is in the middle of shooting that new ending right now and, by his own account, grateful the original plan fell apart.
The third-act shake-up
On the podcast On Film... With Kevin McCarthy, Levy said something unexpected crops up on almost every movie he makes, and Starfighter was no exception. The team had a different third-act plan, but when things did not line up, he had to come up with a new idea fast. That new idea is what he is currently filming.
"Every day I am grateful the way I was supposed to do it did not work out, because the new idea it forced me to explore is so much better than the original."
The pressure cooker of making Star Wars
Levy has handled big franchise weight before with Marvel's Deadpool and Wolverine and Netflix's Stranger Things season 5, but he says Starfighter feels different. Star Wars carries a specific emotional attachment for audiences that he describes as uniquely intense. That pressure, mostly self-imposed, hit hard during the first weeks of production. He describes it like a cloud over his head while fielding a hundred questions a day.
What kind of Star Wars movie is this?
This part is interesting and a bit unusual for the franchise. Levy says Starfighter is not built on familiar scaffolding:
- It is not a sequel and not a prequel
- There are no legacy characters
- It does not sit in a previously explored era of the galaxy
- The team is inventing everything from the ground up: designs, characters, planets, costumes, droids, aliens
- Even with all that newness, every choice still has to feel unmistakably Star Wars
The vibe check
Levy points to Return of the Jedi as the biggest creative inspiration guiding Starfighter. And yes, Ryan Gosling is leading the movie.
Release date
Star Wars: Starfighter is currently filming and is set to hit theaters on May 28, 2027.