Shawn Levy has a pretty busy schedule ahead of him. Not only does he have to finish production on Deadpool 3, which is still on pause due to the SAG-AFTRA strike, but he also has to wrap up the final season of Stranger Things in epic fashion. Those projects are pretty daunting by themselves, and yet, Levy will tackle another seemingly insurmountable task when those two are finished: Directing a new Star Wars movie.

Back in November 2022, Deadline broke the news that Levy will direct a secret movie for the franchise whose plot details and story are tightly under wraps. Since then, there’s been little in the way of updates on the project, which has become par for the course for Star Wars where movies are announced and then shelved with regularity.

However, in a new interview with Variety, Levy has confirmed that he is working with Lucasfilm and the project is still moving forward.

“When Kathy Kennedy brought me on board to make a Star Wars movie, her central mandate to me was ‘I want a Shawn Levy movie. I want a story and a tone that reflects you and your taste and what you bring to your movies — with a Star Wars story,'” Levy said. “So I have felt extremely empowered. We are in early days, unfortunately, because the development process was abruptly paused [due to the WGA strike], but I feel very empowered to trust my instincts in the development of this story and movie.”

When asked if working on Deadpool 3 has been “good practice” for making a Star Wars movie, Levy did not disagree with that framing.

“The experience that I’m currently having with Marvel on Deadpool is showing me firsthand that it is indeed really possible to feel empowered and personal about making a movie within a universe that is bigger than any one film,” Levy told Variety. “My Deadpool movie is turning out to be exactly what Ryan [Reynolds] and I had hoped when we started off. So I’m going into the development of my Star Wars movie with a similar optimism, and faith that my instincts will be allowed to lead the way.”

(Via Variety)