Shawn Levy is in early negotiations with Lucasfilm to direct a “Star Wars” movie, Variety has confirmed. There are no further details available about the project, as talks are still in their preliminary stages, and whatever Levy would direct would have to wait until the prolific filmmaker completed at least two other projects on his crowded dance card.

For Marvel Studios, Levy is committed to directing the third “Deadpool” movie, which stars Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, and is dated for November 2024; and through his own production company, 21 Laps, Levy is expected to helm episodes of the fifth and final season of Netflix’s “Stranger Things,” which is anticipated to begin shooting in 2023. He’s currently in post-production on the limited series “All the Light We Cannot See” for Netflix, which Levy directed and developed with Steven Knight (“Peaky Blinders”).

Deadline has confirmed that the Shawn Levy directed Star Wars movie we first told you about back in 2022, is being penned by Jonathan Tropper.

The news comes as Levy is about to detonate the summer with his directed Marvel Studios feature Deadpool & Wolverine, which some tracking services have at a $200M opening and others as the biggest R-rated domestic start of all-time, beating the original Deadpool‘s $132.4M.

Tropper has a long history with Levy, having written his Netflix movie, The Adam Project, which starred Deadpool‘s Ryan Reynolds. He also wrote the Levy directed Warner Bros 2014 dramedy This Is Where I Leave You and the 2017 Netflix dramedy Kodachrome, which Levy produced under his 21 Laps banner.

On TV, Tropper created the Cinemax crime thriller series Banshee, as well as Warrior, and was a showrunner and scribe on AppleTV+s Jason Momoa series See. He’s also the creator of that streamer’s upcoming series, Your Friends and Neighbors with Jon Hamm, Amanda Peet and Olivia Munn.

Deadline has reached out to Lucasfilm for comment. Among the upcoming Star Wars movies Disney/Lucasfilm has in the works, there’s the Jon Favreau directed, The Mandalorian & Grogu on May 22, 2026 and two untitled Star Wars titles on Dec. 18, 2026 and Dec. 17, 2027, the first of those being the Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy directed, Daisy Ridley returning sequel. Currently streaming on Disney+ is the prequel series Star Wars: The Acolyte. By the way in regards to that second movie, that’s a lot of Star Wars in a given year, I can’t imagine that release date sticks.

The InSneider first had the news about Tropper boarding Star Wars.

Ryan Gosling is headed to the great galaxy far, far away.

The three-time Oscar nominee is in negotiations to topline the Star Wars feature project that will be directed by Deadpool & Wolverine filmmaker Shawn Levy.

Details on any Star Wars project are harder to acquire than plans for an orbital planet killer, and this one is no exception. Levy has been developing his Star Wars feature since 2022 and Jonathan Tropper, who collaborated with Levy on films such as This is Where I Leave You and The Adam Project, has been working on a script for over a year. Levy is also producing the feature via his 21 Laps banner, joining Star Wars stewards Kathleen Kennedy and Lucasfilm.

It is unclear when Levy’s project is set. Star Wars stories have run the gamut of hundreds of years, detailing the goings-on of a galactic republic-turned-dictatorship-turned-rebellion. It’s also unclear if it concerns Jedis and their enemies, The Sith. It is, however, to be unconnected to the so-called Skywalker Saga, the stories centered on well-established and beloved characters Luke Skywalker and his father, Anakin.

It is meant to be a standalone movie, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter. Lucasfilm had no comment on any impending deal or the project’s details.

Sources say the Gosling development is a late-in-the-game move for Levy’s movie schedule. The filmmaker was eyeing to direct a boy band movie set up at Paramount, which would have reunited him with Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman. But Gosling’s interest and involvement suddenly shifted the Star Wars project into hyperspace. If a deal makes, the project would continue to fly like the Millennium Falcon, becoming not only Levy’s next movie but also the next Star Wars movie to go into production, with cameras potentially rolling this fall. The Mandalorian and Grogu wrapped in mid-December and will be released on May 22, 2026.

Gosling’s boarding will mark a rare occasion that a Star Wars feature brings aboard an actual A-lister. The original trilogy featured up-and-comers and British veterans, turning actors Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher into household names. The prequels followed a similar model, although The Phantom Menace did bring on Liam Neeson to buttress the ranks following his Oscar nomination for Schindler’s List. The Disney era saw J.J. Abrams also introduce a crop of rising talent, even as it brought back the original stars.

In a bit of synchronicity, Gosling was name-checked for a Star Wars part back in 2013 when rumors spread online that he and Zac Efron were being eyed by Abrams for a familial part that may have eventually become Kylo Ren.

The actor, last seen starring in Universal’s Fall Guy, is repped by CAA and Sloane Offer. He recently wrapped on Project Hail Marry, another space-faring movie, which hails from Phil Lord and Chris Miller.

The Star Wars feature project that teams Ryan Gosling with director Shawn Levy has a name and a release date.

Star Wars: Starfighter will open on May 28, 2027. That’s just three weeks after fellow mega-Disney title, Avengers: Secret Wars, which bows on May 7, 2027.

The announcement was made at a packed panel at Star War Celebration, the biennial convention that fêtes all manner of things related to Jedis, Siths, and other creations from the galaxy far, far away. It’s unclear if the title has any connection to the 2001 computer game of the same game.



“The reality is that this script is just so good. It has such a great story with great and original characters,” said Gosling from the stage. “It’s filled with so much heart and adventure, and there just really is not a more perfect filmmaker for this particular story than Shawn.”

After Gosling took the stage, a picture flashed on the screen of his childhood Star Wars bedsheets, which was sent in by his mom.

“She still has them, obviously,” Gosling joked. “Naturally, she thought that it might be something that the fans would appreciate, but I suspect that she just sort of wants to justify years of hoarding.” He added: “As you can see from the picture, I guess I was probably dreaming about Star Wars before I even saw the film. And it’s probably framed my idea of what a movie even was.”

Levy has been developing the Star Wars feature since 2022 and Jonathan Tropper, who collaborated with Levy on films such as This Is Where I Leave You and The Adam Project, wrote the script.

It would take an IT-O interrogation droid to coax any plot details from the pair, but the movie has been heating up in Hollywood casting circles in recent weeks. While many names have bubbled up only to prove to be incorrect, there does seem to be a search for a teenaged actor to play opposite Gosling’s mystery man and for a male and female villain.

The film is a standalone movie that will be unconnected to the so-called Skywalker Saga, the stories centered on well-established and beloved characters Luke Skywalker and his father, Anakin.

“This is a standalone. It’s not a prequel, not sequel. It’s a new adventure. It’s set in a period of time that we haven’t seen explored yet,” said Levy, who noted it will be set a few years after Rise of Skywalker.

There is high interest in the Levy-Gosling project as it will be only the second feature made since 2019’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, a movie whose reception threw the Star Wars movie plans into disarray. The first movie since Skywalker will be The Mandalorian and Grogu, a movie spinoff based on the popular Disney+ series The Mandalorian. That movie is in post-production and is scheduled for a May 22, 2026 release.

Details on the project are scant, but it does involve Gosling playing a character that must protect a young charge against evil pursuers.

Goth will play one of the pursuers. It is the same role that Mikey Madison had been circling before her deal blew up like a Death Star — over money matters.