Deadpool 3 director Shawn Levy has revealed his upcoming Star Wars film is on hold.
During an interview with Collider, the filmmaker confirmed he had just started production on the upcoming Star Wars movie before the Writer’s Guild of America strike began.
“We were just starting the process of developing my movie, and the writer strike happened,” he confirmed. “So, we are in that holding pattern that so much of our industry is in.”
Deadpool 3 is among the many Hollywood projects currently in limbo due to the ongoing strikes. Obviously, that’s largely to do with SAG-AFTRA’s strike action forbidding actors from working on struck films, including the Deadpool sequel. However, it looks as though Levy’s other projects are affected, too.
At the moment, little is known about his upcoming Star Wars movie, except that it was confirmed by Levy a few months ago. “I’ve been talking with Kathy Kennedy for a while now, and she’s been aware of my passion for this franchise for a long time,” he previously told Collider. “The stars finally aligned, and she came to me and was like, let’s do something here. And that's as much as I can say. But this is definitely development and not yet close to prep. So, there's a lot of work to be done.”
As well as talking about his Star Wars project, Levy also offered an update on the long-awaited Real Steel sequel: “Same,” he said, referencing his Star Wars film being on hold. “I could literally say, ‘See above.’ Same. Still, as I told you, I want it as badly as the lovers of Real Steel want it, so alive, but paused.”
IGN’s Real Steel review gave it 7/10 and said: “Real Steel's premise has been trivialized and mocked as being Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots meets Stallone's Over the Top. While such comparisons are somewhat valid, the movie is much more than that. Director Shawn Levy has finally ended his long night at the museum by delivering a movie unlike any of his prior flicks. This is an emotionally authentic film anchored by a father and son that you genuinely care about and want to see reunited, and enlivened by some sweet robot-on-robot violence.”
Want to read more about Star Wars? Check out the meaning behind Ahsoka episode 4’s emotional ending and find out whether Star Wars Rebels fan favorite Chopper is an actual war criminal.
Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.
