'Star Wars: Starfighter' director addresses rumours of Ryan Gosling casting

Oscar-winner Ryan Gosling has been cast as the lead actor in a new standalone Star Wars film.

Lucasfilm announced the news on Friday during a three-day fan event at the Makuhari Messe convention center outside Tokyo, Japan.

Director Shawn Levy, who also directed Deadpool & Wolverine, confirmed the lead casting for Star Wars: Starfighter as he addressed the rumours surrounding it.

“One of those rumours I heard that I do need to dispel, is, I had heard at one point that my movie was going to star Ryan Gosling and believe me, that would be a dream come true for me. So today, I just wanted to tell you here in this room that that rumour is 100% true,” Levy said on stage.

Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy also shared a photo of Gosling's childhood Star Wars-themed bedsheets.

“This is a picture that my mom sent my bedsheets when I was 5. Yes, she still has them, obviously,” Gosling explained. “Naturally, she thought that it might be something that the fans would appreciate but I suspect that she just sort of wants to justify years of hoarding.”

Gosling said he is excited to join the all-new “Starfighter” project.

“As you can see from the picture, you know, I guess I was probably dreaming about Star Wars before I even saw the film, and it's probably framed my idea of what a movie even was,” Gosling went on.

“But all of that aside, I think the reality is that this script is just so good. It has such a great story with great and original characters. It's filled with so much heart and adventure. And there just really is not a more perfect filmmaker for this particular story than Shawn [Levy]. So it's something I just really, really wanted to do.”

The work on the movie begins five years after the events of Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker, which was released in 2019.

“I'm extremely excited about what we're going to cook up together. This movie, as I said, is a standalone. This is not a prequel. This is not a sequel. It's a new adventure and it's set in a period of time, as you can tell, that we haven't seen explored on screen yet. And so, it features a collection of all new characters,” said Levy.

It is also pertinent to mention that Star Wars: Starfighter is scheduled to begin filming this fall and will hit theatres on May 28, 2027.