Back in November 2022, it was announced that Shawn Levy, the director behind films such a Free Guy, The Adam Project, Real Steel, Night at the Museum and the upcoming Deadpool and Wolverine, due to release later this month. Word on the Levy project has been pretty quiet ever since, likely because the effort was quite a ways away with other Star Wars movie’s slated for an earlier release such as The Mandalorian and Grogu (May 2026), Star Wars: New Jedi Order (December 2026 – unconfirmed) and Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi (December 2027 – unconfirmed). However, today we have a positive update on the Levy movie with the writer of the project revealed.
According to an exclusive report from TheInseider, Lucasfilm tapped Johnathan Tropper to write the untitled Star Wars project for Levy. The duo have worked together in the past on two films, This is Where I Leave You, the 2014 flick starring Jason Bateman, Tina Fay, Rose Byrne and Adam Driver, as well as 2022’s The Adam Project starring Ryan Reynolds, Mark Ruffalo and Jennifer Garner. This is Where I Leave You and The Adam Project are unquestionably the two films Tropper is most known for, but he’s also worked on some high profile TV series such as Banshee (which he created), Vinyl for HBO, Warrior and See (created by New Jedi Order’s Steven Knight).
I can’t say I’m overly familiar with Tropper’s work, I’ve heard good things about Banshee and Warrior, though I’ve not seen them and the only projects of Tropper’s I’ve seen are the two films I listed, The Adam Project and This is Where I Leave You. I thought both film were okay, so the hiring doesn’t fill me with excitement or confidence in this moment. Tropper could go on to write a wonderful Star Wars movie and I really, really hope he does.
Levy once said that the Lucasfilm president, Kathleen Kennedy, told him that she hired him to make a Shawn Levy movie, a movie that reflects the director and his tastes, but with a Star Wars story (Shawn Levy: A Star Wars Story…sorry). Levy re-teaming with a writer that’s he’s worked on two past projects will help deliver the wish from Kennedy.
As mentioned earlier in the article, the Shawn Levy flick seems as if it’s many years away given Lucasfilm’s stacked theatrical slate. The Mandalorian and Grogu has been confirmed to release in May 2026, the Rey Skywalker flick dubbed New Jedi Order is expected to release in December 2026 and James Mangold’s Dawn of the Jedi is expected to release in December 2027. Dave Filoni’s untitled MandoVerse crossover event film does not have a release date and Disney have not shared a date for an untitled Star Wars film after December 2027, though a previous report from TheInseider revealed that it was hoping to release in 2028. So where does that leave the Levy movie?
I wouldn’t be wholly shocked if the Levy films takes more of a priority at Lucasfilm if his upcoming Deadpool and Wolverine performs extremely well at the box office and critically. At the time of writing, Deadpool and Wolverine is projected to open to around $160M in the United States and well over $200M worldwide with the movie expected to be one of the biggest hits of the year. Many are expecting and hoping for Deadpool and Wolverine to be a billion dollar film, a rare achievement these days, and if the film was successful in doing so, it would be Marvel Studios’ first billion dollar film in five years (Spider-Man: No Way Home was a Sony Pictures release). I personally expect the movie to end its run between $750M-850M.
In the past we’ve seen Lucasfilm announce a slate of films and none come to fruition. Their last slate included Rogue One from Patty Jenkins which was due to release in December 2023, an untitled film from Taika Waititi which was due in December 2025, but has now been delayed indefinitely, and a Kevin Feige produced effort which Kathleen Kennedy has denied the existence of despite Disney’s Alan Horn previously confirming the project. So who’s to say that this current slate doesn’t pan out? Granted The Mandalorian and Grogu will see the light of day and is due to begin filming soon, if it already hasn’t, but the other projects on the docket, who’s to say. I reported recently that the Daisy Ridley led New Jedi Order is no longer on the calendar to film this year and that the reason is issues with the script, you can read more about the details here.
It’s also been reported that Shawn Levy is in talks to direct the next Avengers movie which is due to begin production next year and release in May of 2026, just twenty days before The Mandalorian and Grogu. If Levy does take the Avengers job, it’s likely that we won’t see his Star Wars movie for quite some time, but if he doesn’t, I wonder if it pushes up the list if Deadpool and Wolverine is as successful as anticipated.
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