Ryan Gosling is set to join the Star Wars galaxy, landing the lead role in a new standalone film titled Star Wars: Starfighter, Lucasfilm announced Friday.
Star Wars fans cheered when they learned of the news at Star Wars Celebration 2025, a three-day fan event running through April 20 outside Tokyo, Japan.
Star Wars: Starfighter director Shawn Levy, who also directed Deadpool & Wolverine, broke the news to the legions of fans gathered at the Makuhari Messe convention center. Gosling himself made a surprise appearance.
“One of those rumors I heard that I do need to dispel, is, I had heard at one point that my movie was going to star Ryan Gosling and believe me, that would be a dream come true for me,” Levy said on stage. “So today, I just wanted to tell you here in this room that that rumor is 100% true.”
Gosling said he’s excited to join the all-new Starfighter project.
“I think the reality is that this script is just so good,” he said. “It has such a great story with great and original characters. 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 [Levy]. So it’s something I just really, really wanted to do.”
According to Lucasfilm and Levy, Star Wars: Starfighter is scheduled to begin filming this fall. The movie takes place five years after the events of Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker, which was released in 2019.
Star Wars: Starfighter will open exclusively in movie theaters on May 28, 2027.
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