CHOSEN ONE

Ryan Gosling Joins ‘Star Wars’ Universe as Lead in New Film

The “Barbie” and “La La Land” actor is set to star in Shawn Levy’s upcoming “Star Wars” film.

Ryan Gosling is heading to a galaxy far, far away. The 44-year-old actor has been confirmed as the lead in director Shawn Levy’s Star Wars: Starfighter, People reported. Levy made the announcement during a Star Wars Celebration event in Tokyo on Thursday. “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,” Levy told fans at the event. “So today, I just wanted to tell you here in this room that that rumor is 100% true.” Gosling then surprised the crowd by joining Levy on stage. The La La Land actor spoke about being a lifelong Star Wars fan and shared a photo of his Empire Strikes Back bedsheets from when he was five. “I was probably dreaming about Star Wars before I even saw the film,” Gosling said. “And it’s probably framed my idea of what a movie even was.” Starfighter will be a standalone film and is not part of the main saga. Its story will take place after the events of 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker, the most recent installment in the George Lucas-created franchise. The film is “not a prequel, not a sequel, just gives us the Star Wars DNA that we love but with an adventure that’s all new,” said Levy, who most recently directed Marvel’s Deadpool & Wolverine. Starfighter is set to begin filming this fall, with a release date of May 28, 2027.