The new star of Star Wars could be ... Ryan Gosling?

That’s the word from The Hollywood Reporter, which writes that Gosling is “in negotiations” to star in one of the many different Star Wars movies that has been in development at Lucasfilm in recent years — this one directed by Shawn Levy, and written by Jonathan Tropper.

Gosling is coming off last summer’s very entertaining but financially disappointing blockbuster The Fall Guy. Levy recently directed Marvel’s 2024 massive blockbuster Deadpool & Wolverine. He has supposedly been developing this Star Wars project since 2022.

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THR had zero details about what Levy’s Star Wars will be about, beyond the fact that it is “to be unconnected to the so-called Skywalker Saga” and will be a “stand-alone movie.”

It has now been five years and counting since the last Star Wars feature hit theaters. That was 2019’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Since then, Lucasfilm has released only Star Wars television series on Disney+; most recently the Goonies-esque kids-in-space adventure Skeleton Crew. In the interim, the company developed all sorts of different possible Star Wars movies — including projects from directors like Rian Johnson and Patty Jenkins — but none have come to fruition. (The only one that’s even gotten into production is The Mandalorian and Grogu, a big-screen spinoff of The Mandalorian TV series.)

Gosling certainly has the action/adventure chops for a Star Wars movie, and he’s also appeared in numerous high-profile franchise gigs, including Blade Runner 2049 and, of course, Barbie. On the flip side, Star Wars tends to draw from more the ranks of up-and-coming actors rather than A-list names. The Sequel Trilogy centered on three young actors — Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, and Oscar Isaac — with either fairly limited Hollywood experience or little mainstream name recognition. Ditto Alden Ehrenreich when he was chosen to play the young Han Solo. Evan Ewan McGregor was mostly known as an indie movie guy when he became Obi-Wan Kenobi in the prequels.

The next Star Wars movie, The Mandalorian and Grogu, is currently scheduled to open in theaters on May 22, 2026.