After Amy Adams’ first encounter with the alien heptapods in 2016’s Arrival, the actress is now headed to a galaxy far, far away with Star Wars: Starfighter. Production for the movie has officially begun, and Lucasfilm just announced a full cast including Ryan Gosling, newcomer Flynn Gray, Matt Smith, Mia Goth, Aaron Pierre, Simon Bird, Jamael Westman, Daniel Ings, and Adams.
The movie was first announced at the Star Wars Celebration in Japan this last April, with director Shawn Levy at the helm and Gosling as its star. According to the Star Wars website, Starfighter will be an “entirely original story set in a period of time never before explored” in the franchise.
“From the day [producer] Kathy Kennedy called me up, inviting me to develop an original adventure in this incredible Star Wars galaxy, this experience has been a dream come true, creatively and personally,” Levy said in a statement. “Star Wars shaped my sense of what story [sic] can do, how characters and cinematic moments can live with us forever. To join this storytelling galaxy with such brilliant collaborators onscreen and off, is the thrill of a lifetime.”
IGN reports that its story is set five years after the events of the main series’ ninth and final installment, 2019’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Gosling’s character is tasked with protecting a young charge, while Adams might play Gray’s mother.
It also shares a name with the 2001 video game, Star Wars: Starfighter, which takes place just before the events of the series’ first episode, The Phantom Menace. Whether the nod to the video game holds any significance to the story remains to be seen, as not much else has been said about the upcoming movie.
For now, Star Wars fans have ample time to go through the canon and watch everything from the nine-episode Skywalker saga to shows such as The Mandalorian, The Acolyte, and Andor, before Starfighter hits theaters in May 2027.
