Lucasfilm has just announced (via SFFGazette.com) that Star Wars: Starfighter has started production, and with that comes a first look at the movie, along with an official cast reveal.
Deadpool & Wolverine and Free Guy director Shawn Levy helms the movie, which will be led by Barbie star Ryan Gosling. Now confirmed to be joining him are Flynn Gray (Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2), Matt Smith (House of the Dragon), Mia Goth (Infinity Pool), Aaron Pierre (Lanterns), Simon Bird (The Inbetweeners), Jamael Westman (Hedda), Daniel Ings (Lovesick), and Amy Adams (Man of Steel).
What we don't have are plot details. The movie, described as "an all-new standalone adventure," is "an entirely original story set in a period of time never before explored in Star Wars."
That's all we have to go on for now, but this is an undeniably impressive cast. It's previously been reported that Star Wars: Starfighter takes place after The Rise of Skywalker, with Gosling playing a Jedi who trains his nephew as his Padawan. How much truth there is to that remains to be seen, but Adams is reportedly playing the mother of Gray's character.
"I feel a profound sense of excitement and honor as we begin production on Star Wars: Starfighter," Levy said in a press release today. "From the day Kathy Kennedy called me up, inviting me to develop an original adventure in this incredible Star Wars galaxy, this experience has been a dream come true, creatively and personally."
He added, "Star Wars shaped my sense of what story can do, how characters and cinematic moments can live with us forever. To join this storytelling galaxy with such brilliant collaborators onscreen and off, is the thrill of a lifetime."
Directed by Levy, the film is produced by Levy and Kathleen Kennedy. Executive producers are Ryan Gosling, Dan Levine, Mary McLaglen, and Josh McLaglen. The script is by Jonathan Tropper.
This first look is light on reveals and doesn't tell us much about what to expect from the movie. However, that's a landspeeder, and Gosling is joined in the photo by Gray (the relationship between their characters is expected to be key to the story being told).
Star Wars: Starfighter wasn't among the movies announced at Star Wars Celebration in 2023, though the projects revolving around Rey, the Galaxy's First Jedi, and the Mando-verse remain in various stages of development.
Star Wars: Starfighter will be released theatrically on May 28, 2027.