Ryan Gosling, star of my favourite film of all time, Drive, is in talks to star in the untitled Star Wars film set to be directed by Shawn Levy, who is hot off the back of the billion dollar hit, Deadpool and Wolverine.
The Hollywood Reporter first broke the news of Gosling’s talks and also revealed that Gosling entering talks has shifted the focus of Levy’s film schedule. The outlet revealed that Levy was eyeing his next film to be a comedy focusing on boyband members reuniting in their middled age years and would’ve seen Levy reunite with Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds for the venture, but Gosling late in the game talks has shifted Levy’s priorities.
THR was unable to share any additional details on Gosling’s possible casting or what the plot of Levy’s film would entail, they only added that the film is currently set to be a standalone. It’s worth remembering the same was said for past projects that never came to light such as Damon Lindelof’s certain of New Jedi Order, which was being developed as a standalone, but if successful, sequels could be spawned. Deadline added that the film is not connected to the Skywalker saga and is not a launching point for an Episode X.
Deadline added that Lucasfilm and Levy are looking to begin shooting this Fall, which lines up with a past report from Jeff Sneider, who previously shared that Shawn Levy was keeping a window open for September this year for the Star Wars flick. Past reports from Sneider also pointed towards the films lead being a teenage boy or a young man and that Daisy Ridley’s Rey Skywalker would feature, though Rey would be older than Lucasfilm had planned her to be in Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s New Jedi Order.
Shawn Levy has been developing his Star Wars movie since late 2022 and has been working on the project with a past writing partner of his, Johnathan Tropper. Levy is best known for his work on Stranger Things, Free Guy and Night at the Museum, whereas Tropper’s most known for The Adam Project, a movie directed by Levy, but his best work comes in the form of his television projects, Warrior and Banshee. Tropper’s next release is an Apple TV+ series, Your Friends and Neighbours, which is due to release this April and is a project I’ve heard good things about.
Gosling is probably best known for his roles in La La Land, Barbie, Blade Runner 2049 and Drive. In my opinion, he’s one of the best actors working in Hollywood today and would be a fantastic get for Lucasfilm. Despite having the Barbie juggernaut in 2023, Gosling’s latest high profile flick, The Fall Guy, was a box office disappointment last year and could explain why the actor is eager to join the galaxy far, far away.
Lucasfilm currently has an untitled Star Wars movie dated for December 17th, 2027 and it’s more than likely that Shawn Levy’s project is the movie that’s being lined up to make that window and is the furthest along in development.
The three films announced at Star Wars Celebration are still ways off for various reasons, New Jedi Order seems to be stuck in development Hell, Dawn of the Jedi from James Mangold is in early development and Dave Filoni’s ‘MandoVerse’ crossover event film will start to take shape once Filoni is done with the second season of Ahsoka, which is due to film this April.
Lucasfilm are set to host Star Wars Celebration Tokyo this April and I fully expect an update on the Levy film at the event.
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