Tom Cruise filmed lightsaber battle for Star Wars: Starfighter, director Shawn Levy reveals

During a visit to the set of the sci-fi flick, Tom Cruise jumped in for director Shawn Levy to film a lightsaber duel for Star Wars: Starfighter.

Tom Cruise filmed a lightsaber duel for Star Wars: Starfighter.

Director Shawn Levy, 57, revealed the Mission: Impossible actor, 63, had been one of the famous faces to visit the set of his sci-fi blockbuster, and had got behind the camera to shoot an action sequence for him.

During an interview with The New York Times, Levy said: “Now when you see the movie, you’ll know that part of it was shot by Tom. I mean, how cool is that?”

The Deadpool and Wolverine director explained Cruise had arrived to the set and “just wanted to watch”, but Levy then suggested the Top Gun star should jump in to helm the battle scene.

As well as Cruise, the set of Star Wars: Starfighter was visited by Steven Spielberg.

During his visit, Levy was reminded of the advice the Jurassic Park filmmaker had given him when they made Real Steel – which Spielberg produced.

Levy said: “You direct like you’re sitting in the audience.

“I’ve never forgotten that. For better or worse, I am making movies like I would want them to look and feel and sound like if I were sitting in that dark theater. So maybe that’s it.”

Star Wars: Starfighter – which releases in 2027 – is set five years after 2019’s Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker, and will follow a pilot (Ryan Gosling) who is tasked with protecting his Force-sensitive nephew (Flynn Gray) as they are pursued by mysterious foes across the galaxy.

The film will also star Amy Adams, Mia Goth, Aaron Pierre, Simon Bird, Jamael Westman, Daniel Ings and Matt Smith.

Levy recently said he learned from Stranger Things – on which he served as an executive producer and director – to “stay rooted in character” for Star Wars: Starfighter.

He explained to The Hollywood Reporter: “If I’ve learned anything on Stranger Things, it’s that you can get intimidated by the scale of franchise expectation. But you will lose your way if that’s your focus.

“I’ve learned the need to stay rooted in character, and themes and relationships on screen.

“Yes, there’s spectacle and scale, just like Stranger Things. And of course, Star Wars and Starfighter has spectacle and scale and adventure at a level I’ve never done in my whole career. But like Stranger Things, it’s also very much anchored in a human scale, character-sized story.

“I think that if I can balance the epic and the intimate the way [show creators Matt and Ross Duffer] have with Stranger Things, I’ll make a movie and an original and new Star Wars adventure that can be really satisfying to fans and audiences.”

Levy has also compared Star Wars: Starfighter to his previous projects like Free Guy and Deadpool and Wolverine, calling the sci-fi blockbuster “uniquely intricate” to make due to the freedom he was given for crafting its story.