When new "Star Wars" directors are asked which movie will be the biggest influence on their take on a galaxy far, far away, it's almost always either "The Empire Strikes Back" or "A New Hope" that's cited as the reference.
It's not the case with Shawn Levy, the "Deadpool vs. Wolverine" and "Free Guy" director of the currently in production "Star Wars: Starfighter," who has cited the last of the original trilogy films as the inspiration for his.
Speaking on the On Film... With Kevin McCarthy podcast, Levy says he knows the titles fans refer to but "Return of the Jedi" is the one that he's chasing tone-wise with "Star Wars: Starfighter":
"If I'm being honest, I know the cool answer would be 'Empire,' and sort of the inarguable answer would be 'A New Hope,' but it's kinda 'Jedi.' It's 'Jedi' because of the combination of theme, levity, adventure, heart, spectacle. Somehow that movie just got it right for me."
He says he saw the original a lot as a kid, to the point it became a big part of his life:
"[I] saw that movie so many times in a theater, more times in a theater than 'New Hope' and 'Empire,' and it stuck with me. There are moments where I'm on set, and I feel like that kid is with me, in the director's chair. Like I'm there making his dream come true. It's absolutely incredible."
He adds that he feels the pressure of stepping into a saga that already means so much to people and has shown in the past how quickly things can turn:
"I find the whole subject a little stressful because you want to get it right for the audience... Especially with 'Starfighter,' it's not a sequel. It's not a prequel. It is not legacy characters, and it's not in a period of time in the galaxy that's ever been explored. [I'm] freaking determined to not let any of it feel derivative or lazily copycat."
He adds that the only mandate he got from Lucasfilm's Kathleen Kennedy was: "Make it original. Make it warm-hearted and fun and built for audience delight."