Ryan Gosling Is In Talks To Join A Star Wars Movie Directed By Shawn Levy

The three-time Oscar nominee is in negotiations to topline the Star Wars feature project that will be directed by Deadpool & Wolverine filmmaker Shawn Levy.

Details on any Star Wars project are harder to acquire than plans for an orbital planet killer, and this one is no exception. Levy has been developing his Star Wars feature since 2022 and Jonathan Tropper, who collaborated with Levy on films such as This is Where I Leave You and The Adam Project, has been working on a script for over a year. Levy is also producing the feature via his 21 Laps banner, joining Star Wars stewards Kathleen Kennedy and Lucasfilm.

It is unclear when Levy’s project is set. Star Wars stories have run the gamut of hundreds of years, detailing the goings-on of a galactic republic-turned-dictatorship-turned-rebellion. It’s also unclear if it concerns Jedis and their enemies, The Sith. It is, however, to be unconnected to the so-called Skywalker Saga, the stories centered on well-established and beloved characters Luke Skywalker and his father, Anakin.

It is meant to be a standalone movie, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter. Lucasfilm had no comment on any impending deal or the project’s details.

It's hard to oversell how massive of a get this is for the franchise. Gosling is one of the most bankable stars in Hollywood that is actually talented and Shawn Levy made one of the few good MCU projects that was actually good in the last few years. Combine the two and you SHOULD get a smash hit. However, this is Star Wars. A franchise which, by the numbers, has put out more bad projects in total than good ones. Anything can happen! 

I'll reiterate the keys to success that I mentioned in my last Star Wars blog: 

1. Stick to practical as much as possible. Fans of this franchise like the puppets. We like on-location shooting. We like costumes, goofy voices, miniatures etc. It does not hurt our suspension of disbelief at all! Obviously you need CGI in moments but the more you limit that, the better off you are. 

2. Limit the number of characters. One of the great aspects of the original trilogy is that you could zero in on the trio of Luke, Leia and Han and enjoy their development as characters. In The sequel trilogy, there was just no chemistry between the Rey, Poe and Finn trio and they really weren't given any time on screen together to develop any. On top of that, there were just a trillion new characters introduced every movie that nobody gave a shit about. Like Mel Gibson said, aim small, miss small. 

Stick to this formula and you have a winner. I think the latter is very attainable but the former does not feel very likely with Levy's track record. Also, please take place outside of the Skywalker and jedi stuff...