Ryan Gosling may star in Shawn Levy's big Star Wars movie
Barbie star and box office draw to make his first entry into the Star Wars universe?
We've spent the last 18 months bringing you mostly bad news about upcoming Star Wars films, but one ongoing project is finally firming up with a tasty bit o’ casting news.
Ken-shaped heartthrob Ryan Gosling is in talks to star in Shawn Levy’s Star Wars movie, according to Variety.
The film is a standalone story rather than one connected to the mainline Skywalker saga. We know nothing else on its story yet, but here’s a little potted history of this Shawn Levy project.
All about the Shawn Levy Star Wars movie
Back in November 2022 we heard Levy was in talks to direct a Star Wars film. A couple of months later said he said he wanted to make a "visual spectacle and a healthy dose of wish fulfilment, levity, and big heart,” to SyFy Wire.
So if you’re thinking this is all about the big success Levy had with Deadpool & Wolverine (which made $1.3 billion in cinemas), these talks happened before that film even got its final name.
In 2023, Levy told Variety he was given fairly free rein by Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy.
“I want a Shawn Levy movie. I want a story and a tone that reflects you and your taste and what you bring to your movies – with a Star Wars story,” is what Levy said Kennedy told him.
Levy isn’t exactly an auteur, but he does return to themes of humour and family in films like Night at the Museum, The Adam Project and, yep, even Deadpool & Wolverine.
John Tropper is onboard to write the screenplay. Most notably he wrote The Adam Project, a time-travelling adventure Netflix original movie starring Ryan Reynolds — and directed by Levy.
There’s going to be plenty of time to speculate further about this one, as the next Star Wars movie scheduled to hit cinemas won’t arrive until 2026. That’s The Mandalorian and Grogu, due in May 2026.
And that’s likely to be the only Star Wars movie we see until at least 2027, after an unnamed Star Wars flick was moved from a crucial December 2026 release slot back in November 2024.