Currently on a red-hot streak of projects that includes Stranger Things, the Night at the Museum series and Deadpool and Wolverine, Shawn Levy is currently deep in the galaxy far, far away with Star Wars: Starfighter, and speaking with Vanity Fair – and keen to not give too much away about the May 2027 anniversary year would-be blockbuster – he makes it very clear that he is excited, inspired and stressed out, all at the same time.
VF: Did you always dream of directing a Star Wars movie?
SL: When word got out that Disney had acquired Lucasfilm and they were going to sort of relaunch the film franchise, I was one of dozens of directors who raised their hand and let it be known to anyone who would listen that that would be a dream. But then the dream sort of receded because nothing came of it, and I kept busy doing lots of my own stuff. So to get that call from Kathleen Kennedy in August of 2022, I literally remember where I was. She said, “I want you to do a Star Wars movie.” I asked the obvious question: “Which one? What’s it a prequel to? What’s it a sequel to?” And the immediate answer was, “Whatever one you want. Make it feel like your movies feel.” It was just this incredibly empowering opportunity.
VF: What was it like when you stepped on set for the first day of shooting?
SL: Every day on set with Star Wars, I’ve got my 10-year-old self next to me. I’m sort of inspired and—in the midst of a huge amount of stress—gleeful. Younger me is there every day, and he’s losing his mind with excitement.
VF: When Kathleen Kennedy came to you and said “make your movie,” what ended up being your pitch to her?
SL: I knew the feeling that she wanted. I know the aspects of my work that have worked and that she was alluding to. It is sort of a combination of humor and heart, within adventure. The first step was, I chose [screenwriter] Jonathan Tropper, with whom I’ve done small movies and big movies. We just started talking, and it led to months of dreaming and brainstorming and rejecting ideas and embracing others. And little by little, it led us to a theme that was really interesting to me and some characters that were interesting to me. I can’t give anything more than that away.
