Star Wars’ Next Movie Is a Franchise First After 50 Years (& It Badly Needs It)

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As a huge Star Wars fan, I’ve been following the recent releases closely. While The Mandalorian and Grogu is in theaters now, it doesn’t seem to be the massive hit some were hoping for. Reviews are pretty mixed, and box office numbers suggest it’ll likely perform somewhere between the disappointing Solo and the blockbuster Episodes 7-9. It’ll probably do okay overall when you factor in merchandise and streaming, but honestly, it feels like the franchise will really be back next year with whatever they release then. It’s been a while since a Star Wars film felt like a cultural event the way it did back in 1977, and this one hasn’t quite gotten there.

2027 will be a huge year for Star Wars fans, celebrating the franchise’s 50th anniversary! There’s a lot planned, including Star Wars Celebration in Los Angeles, a re-release of the original A New Hope in theaters, and new content on Disney+, like Season 2 of Ahsoka. But the biggest event will be the release of Star Wars: Starfighter, a brand new movie coming out in May – almost 50 years after the very first Star Wars film. Lucasfilm is hoping this movie will revitalize the saga.

Star Wars: Starfighter Is Something Brand New (& That’s A Good Thing)

As a huge Star Wars fan, I’m really excited about this new movie because it feels like a fresh start! Since George Lucas’ original film in 1977, this will be the first Star Wars story completely focused on brand new characters, with no ties to the existing saga. Everything else we’ve gotten lately – the Skywalker movies, Rogue One, Solo, even The Mandalorian – has either continued the main story or explored the backgrounds of characters we already knew. This feels different – a chance to meet a whole new set of heroes and experience a Star Wars adventure without any pre-existing connections.

The new movie, Starfighter, won’t feature any characters you already know from the Star Wars saga. Set five years after The Rise of Skywalker, it’s a completely fresh story. Ryan Gosling will play a pilot tasked with protecting a young child, Flynn Gray, and while it will include familiar elements like lightsaber battles and Force abilities (Gray’s character is expected to have them), it’s a brand new adventure taking place in an unexplored region of the Star Wars galaxy.

Unlike A New Hope, which had planned sequels from the start, Starfighter appears to be a standalone film for now. However, if it performs very well at the box office – and it’s likely to – that could change.

Ryan Gosling hasn’t always been a consistent lead in films, but his recent success with the sci-fi hit Project Hail Mary makes him a great fit for this franchise right now. Similarly, director Shawn Levy isn’t a huge name known for drawing audiences, but he recently proved he can deliver a popular, high-grossing blockbuster with Deadpool & Wolverine.

Presenting it as a completely separate story should help this film succeed. Unlike The Mandalorian & Grogu, which feels connected to the Disney+ series and might remind viewers of a long TV episode, Starfighter is a fresh start. This allows it to avoid some of the baggage and divisions that have surrounded other Star Wars movies, as much as any film in that universe can.

Look, everyone’s buzzing about a potential link to Rey’s planned Jedi film, and honestly, it could make sense. If this new character is strong with the Force, a connection feels likely – but I suspect it would be a very late-in-the-game reveal, designed not to disrupt the story we’re seeing now. Personally, I’d rather they leave that thread alone, especially since we haven’t heard much about Rey’s movie in three years. Right now, though, it’s all just speculation. Officially, this story is completely separate, and that’s probably for the best.

As a huge film fan, I really think the new Starfighter movie needs to feel like a massive cinematic event – something on the scale of Top Gun: Maverick. Honestly, that’s a great benchmark, especially since it’s shot by the same cinematographer! What’s exciting is that it doesn’t seem burdened by past Star Wars films, which means it could really kickstart a fresh, thrilling direction for the franchise.

Star Wars: Starfighter flies into theaters on May 27th, 2027.

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2026-05-24 15:40