Ryan Gosling is set to join the Star Wars galaxy, landing the lead role in a new standalone film titled Star Wars: Starfighter, Lucasfilm announced Friday.
Star Wars fans cheered when they learned of the news at Star Wars Celebration 2025, a three-day fan event running through April 20 outside Tokyo, Japan.
Star Wars: Starfighter director Shawn Levy, who also directed Deadpool & Wolverine, broke the news to the legions of fans gathered at the Makuhari Messe convention center. Gosling himself made a surprise appearance.
“One of those rumors I heard that I do need to dispel, is, I had heard at one point that my movie was going to star Ryan Gosling and believe me, that would be a dream come true for me,” Levy said on stage. “So today, I just wanted to tell you here in this room that that rumor is 100% true.”
Gosling said he’s excited to join the all-new Starfighter project.
“I think the reality is that this script is just so good,” he said. “It has such a great story with great and original characters. It’s filled with so much heart and adventure. And there just really is not a more perfect filmmaker for this particular story than Shawn [Levy]. So it’s something I just really, really wanted to do.”
According to Lucasfilm and Levy, Star Wars: Starfighter is scheduled to begin filming this fall. The movie takes place five years after the events of Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker, which was released in 2019.
Star Wars: Starfighter will open exclusively in movie theaters on May 28, 2027.
Disney is the parent company of Lucasfilm and ABC News.
Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively are facing off in Italy in the latest look at Another Simple Favor.
Kendrick, who plays Stephanie, and Lively, who plays Emily, are back in action in the sequel to the 2018 hit, which ended with Stephanie sending Emily to prison.
The trailer kicks off with Emily confronting Stephanie and inviting her to her wedding in Capri, Italy, much to Stephanie’s confusion.
Once in Italy, the trailer displays several tense exchanges between the two characters, as well as an explosion.
As Kendrick’s character spends the trailer looking to piece together her invitation, Lively’s character provides no clues, offering a cheers “to old friends, new beginnings.”
“Stephanie Smothers (Anna Kendrick) and Emily Nelson (Blake Lively) reunite on the beautiful island of Capri, Italy, for Emily’s extravagant wedding to a rich Italian businessman,” a synopsis for the film reads. “Along with the glamorous guests, expect murder and betrayal to RSVP for a wedding with more twists and turns than the road from the Marina Grande to the Capri town square.”
2018’s A Simple Favor revolved around Emily and Stephanie’s friendship gone awry after Emily seemingly disappears and Stephanie discovers her dark past.
Paul Feig, the director of the original, also directs the sequel, which hits Prime Video on May 1.
Along with Kendrick and Lively, the film stars Bashir Salahuddin, Michele Morrone, Alex Newell, Andrew Rannells, Aparna Nancherla, Kelly McCormack, Henry Golding and more.
Get ready for a “whole new world.” A seventh Disney destination is coming to Abu Dhabi.
The Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger made the major announcement Wednesday on ABC’s Good Morning America, describing it as “the most technologically advanced theme park that we’ve ever built.”
“I am excited for the UAE and Abu Dhabi. Bringing a Disneyland to a land in the world is, I think, a big deal and it makes a big statement and it’s just a great moment,” Iger said.
A new chapter of Disney storytelling will rewrite a land known for its architecture, culture, coastlines and desert. Excitement is already brewing in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.
“We’ve decided that we want to build a very modern Disneyland,” Iger continued. “It will obviously incorporate a lot of our intellectual property and some of the typical stories that we tell in our theme parks.”
Disney’s new theme park will be located on Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island, about 8,400 miles away from Anaheim, California – the site of the first Disneyland, which opened in 1955.
“You start thinking about what is possible, actually envisioning a castle rising up, in this case, from the sand, and also being on the water,” Iger said.
“We haven’t decided everything that will go into it but we do know it will be anchored by a castle,” Iger continued. “And again – the modernization that is Abu Dhabi – the castle will be the first real modern castle that we built.”
Iger said the selection of Abu Dhabi as the next Disneyland site was a key decision.
“The UAE and Abu Dhabi is a crossroads of the world,” said Iger. “This is a hub in many respects but also, because it is located where it is, it’s accessible to so many different regions, places where we typically have only scratched the surface in terms of attendance to our parks.”
Disney’s new theme park has been in the works since 2017 but plans crystalized after Iger visited the region last year and discovered there was already a lot of excitement surrounding Disney.
Disney is partnering with Miral, the operators of world-class immersive experiences and attractions in Abu Dhabi, to bring the new theme park to life. Miral will oversee the building and development of Disney’s resort.
The Walt Disney Company is the parent company of ABC News and “Good Morning America.”
