Shawn Levy wrapped production on Star Wars: Starfighter late last year and seems to be moving on to his next project, an “emotional sci-fi” movie for Netflix titled Somewhere Out There. According to THR, the streaming service snagged the project after a competitive bidding war over the spec script by Max Taxe.
As I mentioned above, Somewhere Out There is said to be an emotional sci-fi story and is described as being in the vein of Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival and Levy’s own The Adam Project. Plot details are sparse, but the story “concerns a grieving father who, after losing his wife, sends a message out into the stars…and something out there starts to talk back.“
In addition to directing, Levy will also produce through his 21 Laps banner alongside Dan Levine. The project sounds interesting. It reminds me a little of Frequency, the 2000 movie in which Jim Caviezel spoke with his long-dead father (Dennis Quaid) through a broken radio. No aliens in that one. Not that I remember anyway.
We don’t know much about Starfighter in terms of official plot details, other than Tom Cruise helping to film a lightsaber duel, but it features a cast that includes Ryan Gosling (The Fall Guy), Flynn Gray (Wednesday), Matt Smith (Caught Stealing), Mia Goth (Pearl), Aaron Pierre (Lanterns), Simon Bird (The Inbetweeners), Jamael Westman (The Essex Serpent), Daniel Ings (The Gentlemen), and Amy Adams (Man of Steel).
Levy has previously said he’s drawing inspiration from the most divisive entry in the original Star Wars trilogy: Return of the Jedi. “Let me tell you something,” Levy explained. “People – I’ve not said this out loud because everyone’s like ‘Which Star Wars movie is Starfighter the most like? Which is the most inspired by?’ If I’m being honest – I know the cool answer would be Empire, and sort of the inarguable answer would be A New Hope – but it’s kinda Jedi.“
He continued, “It’s Jedi because of the combination of theme, levity, adventure, heart, spectacle. Somehow that movie just got it right for me. And I saw that movie so many times in a theater, more times in a theater than New Hope and Empire, and it stuck with me. I will tell you…there’s moments where I’m on set, and I feel like that kid is with me, in the director’s chair. Like I’m there making his dream come true.“
Star Wars: Starfighter is set to hit theaters on May 28, 2027.