Ryan Gosling reveals why he had “total faith” in Star Wars: Starfighter director Shawn Levy.
The upcoming Star Wars movie has been promoted as a standalone adventure featuring an all-new cast of characters. This is a departure from all the franchise’s films that have been released since 1977, which have featured and usually revolved around characters from previous movies. While anticipation is high for Starfighter, there have been questions about Levy’s creative overhaul for the third act, which the director previously spoke about in the On Film… With Kevin McCarthy podcast.
In an interview with ScreenRant’s Liam Crowley for Project Hail Mary, Gosling shares that he cannot comment on questions about Starfighter’s third act, but he emphasizes that he trusted Levy throughout the entire filming process and even “started calling him the mailman because he always delivers.” He believes fans will feel the same way after they see the finished movie. Check out Gosling’s comments below:
I can’t comment on that specifically, but I loved working with Shawn, and I had total faith in him. I started calling him the mailman because he always delivers. I found in the process of making this, and I think that the fans will find out too, that the mailman’s going to deliver.
Gosling’s comments are not an anomaly, as they echo Kathleen Kennedy’s positive remarks about Levy in her Lucasfilm exit interview with Deadline, and the filmmaker has a reputation for being a reliable industry figure. While some Star Wars movies have had to change directors and gone through other massive shifts behind the scenes, the narrative around Starfighter has been that it was a smooth process for all involved, which Gosling seems to further confirm in the way he describes working with Levy.
From George Lucas’ original 12-movie plan to the rewrites and reshoots that altered a great deal about Rogue One, Starfighter is far from the first film in the franchise to make some changes. All these shifts were made to improve their respective stories, and Levy’s prior comments indicate that the same is true for Starfighter’s third act: “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.”
While official story and characters details remain under wraps, Starfighter is set several years after The Rise of Skywalker in the Star Wars timeline, which means it will explore uncharted territory in the franchise canon. In addition to Gosling, the cast includes Flynn Gray, Matt Smith, Mia Goth, Aaron Pierre, Simon Bird, Jamael Westman, Daniel Ings, and Amy Adams. Smith and Goth are reportedly playing villains pursuing Gray’s character, who is protected by Gosling. Goth’s role was originally offered to Academy Award winner Mikey Madison.
Before Star Wars: Starfighter’s release on May 28, 2027, which will mark the 50-year anniversary of the original Star Wars movie’s premiere, the franchise will return to theaters for the first time since 2019 with The Mandalorian and Grogu, which debuts on May 22, 2026.
Release Date
May 28, 2027
Director
Shawn Levy