Star Wars: Starfighter is shaping up to be one of the most expensive Star Wars movies Lucasfilm has made. Financial filings from the film’s UK production company show it had spent £164.9 million ($226.5 million) by January 31, 2026, well over a year before the Ryan Gosling movie reaches theaters.
The figure comes from annual accounts filed in the United Kingdom, where Starfighter was shot. Forbes reported the numbers today, and they show the movie running ahead of both The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi at a similar point in their productions.
What The $226.5 Million Covers
The $226.5 million is not the film’s final budget. It covers spending from the start of production through January 31, just over a month after filming wrapped at Pinewood Studios. It does not include post-production costs after that date or the lengthy visual effects work a Star Wars movie needs. The final number will climb.
There is also a cushion. The UK’s film tax credit brought back £37.5 million ($51.5 million), dropping the net cost at that point to about $175 million. That rebate is expected to grow as more spending is added.
A few details from the filing give a sense of the scale of the shoot. Staff costs, one of the biggest single expenses, came to £12.8 million ($17.6 million), and the production averaged 239 workers a month.
How It Compares To Other Star Wars Films
Starfighter had spent more by this stage than The Force Awakens, whose UK company recorded £147.6 million (about $203 million) through 12 days after filming ended, and The Last Jedi, at £162.3 million (about $223 million) through three weeks after filming ended. It has not caught The Rise of Skywalker, though. That film’s UK company had recorded costs of £281.6 million (about $387 million) through one month after its filming wrapped. Because each filing stops at a slightly different point, the comparison is close but not exact.
Companies that make movies in the UK have to file yearly accounts, which is why these numbers become public at all. Disney does not usually share the budget for its films, so these filings are often the only real look at what a Star Wars movie costs.
What We Know About Starfighter
Shawn Levy directs Star Wars: Starfighter from a script by Jonathan Tropper. Gosling stars alongside Flynn Gray, Mia Goth, Matt Smith, Aaron Pierre, Amy Adams and Daniel Ings. Lucasfilm has kept the plot under wraps beyond calling it an all-new story.
The movie opens on Friday, May 28, 2027, three days after the 50th anniversary of the original Star Wars, which opened on May 25, 1977. The hype is already building, with Neiman Marcus selling a $180,000 Star Wars package that includes custom lightsabers and premiere tickets.
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