In a surprising announcement, The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that Ryan Gosling is in talks to star in Shawn Levy’s upcoming Star Wars movie, which has reportedly been languishing in development for the past two years.
While little information has been given about the film or what sort of role Gosling would be cast in, his addition may be the shot in the arm both the movie and Lucasfilm need to start the long, arduous process of pulling Star Wars back from the pit of irrelevance it has fallen into.
Or, like so many other announced Star Wars projects before it, this movie might never see the light of day.
Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia, Harrison Ford as Han Solo, and Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca in Star Wars: A New Hope (1977), Lucasfilm
Ryan Gosling, star of movies like La La Land and The Notebook is arguably one of the few remaining “A-list names” in Hollywood that still carries weight with fans. He is also no stranger to sci-fi franchises that star Harrison Ford, having played the lead in the somewhat maligned Blade Runner 2049 (which I, for one, liked, thank you very much).
Shawn Levy, meanwhile, is still riding high off of his massive success directing this past summer’s blockbuster hit, Deadpool and Wolverine.
While reportedly having planned to follow-up that film with another Ryan Reynolds/Hugh Jackman project about boy bands, Gosling’s apparent interest in headlining his Star Wars film has, per THR, boosted production of the film to the forefront of Levy’s schedule.
(L-R): Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool/Wade Wilson and Hugh Jackman as Wolverine/Logan in 20th Century Studios/Marvel Studios’ DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE. Photo by Jay Maidment. ©. However, Levy (who is working with his long-time collaborator Jonathan Topper on the film’s script) had previously indicated that the film would be a standalone feature that’s separate from the Skywalker saga as well as previous Star Wars movies and tv shows.
It joins the ranks of The Mandalorian and Grogu film, the as-yet-untitled James Mangold-led Jedi origin Star Wars film, and the Rey film that’s supposedly in development.
It goes without saying that fans (both the few that remain as well as the many who have walked away) would be far more receptive to a Gosling-led trilogy of films as opposed to those about the further adventures of Rey Palpatine.
Daisy Ridley as Rey in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019), Lucasfilm
Beyond that, however, Gosling’s involvement would give Lucasfilm the perfect opportunity to course correct the Skywalker saga itself because hey, let’s face it, Gosling as Anakin’s descendant or Luke’s secret love-child seems like a no-brainer.
Whatever the case, we’ll keep you posted on where things go from here. However, if Gosling is indeed confirmed to headline Levy’s movie, it will be interesting to see how involved Lucasfilm will be in its production and whether they will be able to once again snatch defeat from the jaws of victory as they always seem to do these days.
Would you see a Star Wars movie starring Ryan Gosling? Sound off in the comments below and let us know!
“Gosling lead trilogy.”
Does everything have to be a trilogy? Can we just have a one off film and be done with it? I suspect this could be made along with the Mando and Grogu movie (for obvious reasons), The Dawn of the Jedi film from Mangold I suspect will still get made, and the Rey movie only because they dragged Daisy on stage to promote it. Lucasfilm doesn’t want to do her dirty like that. That’s four films to be made and who knows the release dates on three of them.
The power of delusion never ceases to amaze me. I seriously doubt Disney will even have the money to make this movie after their current slate of bombs gets done being destroyed at theaters. For all the noise Disney execs, access media, and fanbois keep making, the reality is Disney is hemorrhaging money. It’s only going to get worse now that Iger is openly defying anti-DEI orders.
All the tax breaks and special considerations Mouse House got from the government? Gone. Federal funding for propaganda purposes? Not for diehard woke studios like Disney now.
He could be a pretty good Kyle Katarn, but not even Ryan Gosling would make me watch Star Wars again.