Star Wars: Starfighter opens up further as part of D23 2026. Lucasfilm shared fresh imagery from the next Star Wars movie directed by Shawn Levy, led by Ryan Gosling. The feature will tell an original story set five years after Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and is slated to hit US theaters on May 28, 2027.
The film follows a new character played by Ryan Gosling, who embarks on an adventure alongside a young boy portrayed by Flynn Gray. Footage unveiled at D23 offers a fresh glimpse of this duo, already at the center of the first official photos released during filming.
Star Wars: Starfighter holds a special place in the saga’s chronology. Its story unfolds roughly five years after Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, released in 2019 and the final installment of the post-sequel trilogy centered on Rey, Finn, and Kylo Ren.
However, the film is not a numbered installment in the Skywalker saga. Shawn Levy is shaping an independent story focused on new characters, giving Lucasfilm the chance to explore this still relatively underdeveloped era on screen without extending the plot of Episode IX directly.
Ryan Gosling plays the lead, while Flynn Gray portrays the young boy he accompanies and protects. Details of their mission remain largely under wraps, but their relationship is one of the story’s central throughlines.
The cast of Star Wars: Starfighter also features Matt Smith, Mia Goth, Amy Adams, Aaron Pierre, Simon Bird, Jamael Westman and Daniel Ings.
The screenplay is by Jonathan Tropper, a regular collaborator of Shawn Levy with whom he notably worked on Adam Through Time. The director also produces the film with Kathleen Kennedy.
Filming officially began in August 2025 in the United Kingdom. On that occasion, Lucasfilm unveiled an initial image featuring Ryan Gosling and Flynn Gray in a desert setting, alongside news of the main cast.
Star Wars: Starfighter will be the next Star Wars movie to hit the big screen after The Mandalorian & Grogu, released in May 2026. Unlike the latter, which directly draws from the universe built in the Disney+ series, Shawn Levy's film introduces new leads and unfolds five years after Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
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