New ‘Star Wars’ Movie Budget Officially Outspending ‘The Force Awakens’ Ahead of Franchise Reset

After the disappointing box-office returns of The Mandalorian and Grogu, Disney hopes Star Wars will rebound next summer with the releae of Starfighter. Directed by Deadpool & Wolverine filmmaker Shawn Levy, Starfighter stars Ryan Gosling, Flynn Gray, Matt Smith, Mia Goth, Aaron Pierre, and Amy Adams. Set five years after The Rise of Skywalker, this new entry in the Star Wars franchise aims to mark a new chapter, potentially setting up Jon Watts’ upcoming Episode X.

While The Mandalorian and Grogu was shot entirely in Los Angeles, California, to keep costs down and make it the cheapest Star Wars film Disney has produced, Starfighter took the opposite approach. The movie was filmed in England and also in Sardinia, Italy. Disney seems to be sparing no expense, with a new financial filing suggesting a heavy production budget that could rival some of the franchise’s most expensive entries.

According to Forbes, Star Wars: Starfighter spent $226.5 million by the time it wrapped at Pinewood Studios. This outpaces the production spending of The Force Awakens. However, this is not Starfighter‘s completed production budget, nor does it match The Force Awakens‘ final budget, which reportedly came in at $535 million after tax refunds. Starfighter itself has received $51.5 million in refunds from the U.K. government, bringing its net spending down to $175 million. So far, this makes it the second-cheapest Star Wars film Disney has produced.

Here is a breakdown of the budget for each Star Wars movie Disney produced after tax refunds.

Disney is making a big investment in Starfighter. While movies like The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, and Rogue One were box-office smash hits, the franchise has struggled since Solo,the first box-office bomb in the historic sci-fi franchise. Even though The Rise of Skywalker made over $1 billion worldwide, its high production cost meant it made only a $50 million profit (via Forbes). The Mandalorian and Grogu‘s disappointing $345.8 million worldwide total is only offset by the fact that it is the cheapest entry in the franchise to produce.

The confidence in Starfighter might not be misplaced, as audience reaction to footage shown at D23 was very positive. After announcing that Ryan Gosling would star in Ghost Rider and Shawn Levy would direct, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige praised what he saw of their work on the new Star Wars title. Both Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise visited the set of Starfighter, with Cruise even reportedly courting Levy to direct Days of Thunder 2 before the director ultimately chose to helm Ghost Rider.

With Starfighter‘s release date approaching on May 28, 2027, the film’s marketing campaign will likely start soon. A teaser trailer could be attached to Avengers: Doomsday, Disney’s big holiday-season release. With major tie-in events such as the 50th anniversary re-release of Star Wars in Februarry 2027, Star Wars Celebration in April, and May the Fourth, Disney will likely spend a lot of money on Starfighter‘s marketing, which could further raise the price tag. Hopefully, it will be worth the investment.

Release Date

May 28, 2027

Writers

Jonathan Tropper