‘Star Wars: Starfighter’ Recruits Key Creative Behind ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ and ‘F1’

Filming for Star Wars: Starfighter is currently underway, and director Shawn Levy just added a major talent to his crew. Starfighter is set to mark a turning point for the Star Wars film franchise, as it will be set after the events of The Rise of Skywalker and explore a new set of characters in that galaxy far, far away. Ryan Gosling stars in the lead role, toplining an impressive cast that includes Mia Goth, Matt Smith, Aaron Pierre, and Amy Adams — and now, it appears that the film has recruited an Academy Award winner to join its behind-the-scenes fleet.

Shawn Levy has confirmed via X that Claudio Miranda, best known for his work with director Joseph Kosinski on Top Gun: Maverick, F1, and Tron: Legacy, will serve as the cinematographer on Starfighter. Miranda won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for his work on Ang Lee’s Life of Pi and was previously nominated for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Bringing That ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Magic to ‘Star Wars’

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Miranda’s involvement in Starfighter is an exciting development. His work on Top Gun: Maverick and F1 has earned praise from critics and fans for putting audiences close to the action — inside a fighter jet and a Formula 1 car in those specific films — and it seems that the goal is to bring that magic to a Star Wars spacecraft. The question now is how he’ll convey that visceral point of view within a fictional vehicle in a space setting that requires a CGI environment.

Whereas the Skywalker Saga films tended to adhere to certain visual styles laid out by the first Star Wars film, the spinoff entries have been able to experiment more with their visual language. Rogue One was shot by Greig Fraser, who won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography five years later for his work on Dune. Solo: A Star Wars Story was shot by Bradford Young, previously nominated for an Oscar for his work on Arrival. Interestingly, there’s still no word on who’s serving as cinematographer for The Mandalorian & Grogu, despite it opening in less than a year (and before Starfighter).

Starfighter presents a big test for the Star Wars franchise, as it won’t have the added benefit of featuring fan-favorite characters or a lot of major connections to the wider franchise. It will not only introduce new characters, but also be set in an unexplored era of the franchise’s timeline. That’s a daunting task, but fans can feel confident that Levy has assembled a team of creatives who are more than up for the challenge.

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