While it was billed as The Mandalorian and Grogu panel, Star Wars Celebration Japan 2025’s first panel decided to start with a surprise: Shawn Levy’s rumored film was not only confirmed, but it’s star Ryan Gosling was brought on stage, the title Starfighter was revealed, and it’s next to go into production with a release date of May 28, 2027! It wasn’t all about Ken, as new behind-the-scenes photos were shared from Grogu’s Day Out, additional details, and footage was shown to attendees (you can find it if you know where to look), hyping up 2026’s film. Head below for all the particulars gleaned from the panel!
Before revealing Star Wars: Starfighter, Kathleen Kennedy reiterated the films from Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (set 15 years after The Rise of Skywalker, considered the New Jedi Order, and starring Daisy Ridley’s Rey Skywalker), James Mangold (a Dawn of the Jedi film, going back over 20,000 years), Dave Filoni (his New Republic film that brings together all the Mando-verse shows), Taika Waititi (which was announced back in 2020 and Kennedy continues to expect to have one day), and Simon Kinberg (which rumors and now the official site states he’s making a new trilogy, has previously worked on Star Wars Rebels, but your mileage will vary with him). Noticeable absent was the Rian Johnson trilogy announced so long ago (2017!?!), but hey, to know we have two Star Wars movies coming out, for reals, in two years, is quite the change since 2019.
Starfighter
Might as well start with the big surprise right? Shawn Levy will direct Starfighter, starting this Fall, scheduling its release to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Saga when it hits theaters on May 28, 2027! Didn’t have Ryan Gosling in Star Wars for the 50th Anniversary on my bingo card, but it would’ve been a fun one to hit BINGO on! Details are sparse at the moment, but we know it’s a standalone film, Ryan Gosling plays a new character (love his hat and what he was saying on the livestream just after the panel), and it’s set 5 years after The Rise of Skywalker. I’m not surprised a big push for the franchise is going post-TRoS, as Simon Kinberg’s trilogy is also supposedly set then and obviously so is the Rey movie, and I hope publishing will get to follow suit as well to help start fleshing out what all comes next. I’d have wished Obaid-Chinoy’s New Jedi Order was to be announced next, but it seems they are working on the script still and I’d rather they take their time to get it right. I suspect we’ll get a lot more details about Starfighter later this year, especially if it’s filming in the Fall!
UPDATE: They have the segment of Gosling and Levy on the Celebration Live Stage for your viewing pleasure!
The Mandalorian and Grogu
The biggest thing for me with The Mandalorian and Grogu, out May 22, 2026, was finally seeing Sigourney Weaver in the film, as it still felt too good to be true. She’s playing some type of New Republic General, one who was once part of the Rebellion, and is the one who hires Din Djarin for a job, which according to the footage, might just confirm the rumors about Rotta the Hutt being part of the story. And more Garazeb “Zeb” Orrelios (there’s that Star Wars Rebels again) is a big plus in my book!
I saw the footage/trailer shown at the panel on an Instagram Reel my wife almost scrolled right past and, well, it looks like a lot of fun, even I’m still sort of meh about the whole endeavor. There’s a great sequence where Din Djarin infiltrates the holding area of an AT-AT and works his way through the troopers inside like a true badass, which later explodes and tumbles into the abyss below. Grogu has some cute moments, messing with a bowl of food on Sigourney Weaver’s character’s desk, destroying what looked to be a mouse droid, and even going for a swim. We also get a glimpse of a really ripped Hutt, which my boy Grakkus flexed first so this Hutt, potentially Rotta (Jabba’s child, potentially voiced by The Bear‘s Jeremy Allen White), could bench press.
Hopefully this trailer, or at least something like it, makes it to the public for the first time since this thing has been announced, either by the end of the weekend or a little later this year.
UPDATE: No trailer, but Pedro Pascal and Dave Filoni on the Celebration Live Stage segment has been released! I guess Pedro came in, as my wife says they are called, his “slutty boots,” which honestly, only he can pull off!
We aren’t at Celebration this year, but we’ll be covering it as quickly as we can, so tune into the Manor for more news from Japan as it comes in, as well as any new details we get about Stafighter and The Mandalorian and Grogu!
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