Had The Mandalorian & Grogu been born with a relatively cautious budget, Star Wars Starfighter by Shawn Levy with Ryan Gosling, slated for release in theaters from May 2027, would not be stingy on spending, at least according to a Forbes investigation. Since the film was shot for the majority of its scenes at Pinewood Studios in England (but also in Sardinia), the outlet reviewed the documents submitted by Disney / Lucasfilm to secure the British tax reliefs… and uncovered an already extremely high figure. The movie is trending on par with several features of the new trilogy.
Star Wars Starfighter will cost more than The Force Awakens but less than The Rise of Skywalker
How much is Star Wars Starfighter costing at the moment? By early 2026, the budget is pegged at $226,500,000, which with the tax reliefs comes to $175 million. Forbes notes, however, that the production of Shawn Levy‘s film, the actual relaunch of Star Wars with the star power guaranteed by Ryan Gosling, is not yet finished: the calculation will be redone after the post-production with visual effects is fully completed. Up to this point, according to the research, Starfighter would be costing more than The Force Awakens at the same stage, roughly on par with The Last Jedi, but less than The Rise of Skywalker: the latter managed to go into the red, despite a high worldwide gross of $1,077,000,000, because at the end of the production the net cost was $490 million (nearly $594 million before incentives!).
Yet Star Wars Starfighter is already costing far more than The Mandalorian & Grogu, produced for $165 million according to Hollywood Reporter (we don’t know if this figure is net of the tax incentives in California, which are less transparent than the English equivalents). It’s a substantial risk, but evidently necessary to give Star Wars another jolt on the big screen, because the cinematic adventures of Mando and Grogu have not exceeded a disappointing worldwide box office of $345,600,000.
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