Director Shawn Levy revealed that “Star Wars: Starfighter” will be scored by “WALL-E” and “The Shawshank Redemption” composer Thomas Newman.
The filmmaker confirmed Newman’s involvement in the forthcoming “Star Wars” film while promoting “Stranger Things” Season 5, which he produced and helped direct, in an episode of the “On Film…With Kevin McCarthy” podcast out Wednesday. While discussing the film, which is set to be headlined by “Project Hail Mary” star Ryan Gosling, Levy excitedly announced that Newman will be composing the blockbuster’s musical score.
“I don’t know if that’s public, so now it is. Yeah, I think we’re breaking news here,” the “Deadpool & Wolverine” director said. Levy went on to express his excitement about working with Newman, calling the 15-time Oscar-nominated composer a “maestro,” further confessing: “If you asked me to name my favorite scores, five of the Top 10 are Tom Newman.”
“I was thinking about this movie and what I need the music to be, because it wants to be sort of classically inspired, but no, it’s not going to be remixes of [John] Williams cues,” Levy explained. “It may be inspired by some of that, but I knew that I need a big-hearted movie score from a composer who, like John Williams, doesn’t shy away from themes. In other words, you know, every movie should have a musical theme.”
“What John Williams sort of embraces is [that] a movie can have multiple themes,” he added, pointing to Williams’ “Star Wars” scores as examples of movies having a myriad of “musical signatures that help tell the narrative alongside and in addition to the words and the images.” With that in mind, Levy called Newman.
“I said, ‘Hey, it’s Shawn Levy. Would you ever consider [doing this]?’ And he said, ‘Send me the script and describe your vision,’” the filmmaker recalled. “I did both those things, and it was ‘Yes,’ and I am so stoked.”
Newman’s participation in “Starfighter” makes him just the fifth composer outside of Williams to score a “Star Wars” film, following in the footsteps of Kevin Kiner (“Star Wars: The Clone Wars”), Michael Giacchino (“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”), John Powell (“Solo: A Star Wars Story”) and Ludwig Göransson (“The Mandalorian and Grogu”).
Plot details for “Star Wars: Starfighter” are being kept under wraps for the time being. Penned by “Your Friends & Neighbors” creator Jonathan Tropper, the film will reportedly be set five years after 2019’s “Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker” and tell its own, original story set within its iconic galaxy far, far away. In addition to Gosling, its cast includes Flynn Gray, Aaron Pierre, Mia Goth, Amy Adams, Simon Bird, Jamael Westman, Daniel Ings and Matt Smith.
Principal photography for “Star Wars: Starfighter” began on Aug. 28. Production is still underway, with scenes having already been shot in both the United Kingdom and Italy, but was briefly paused in November so that Levy could partake in the “Stranger Things” Season 5 press tour.
“Star Wars: Starfighter” is slated to hit theaters on May 28, 2027.
