Somewhere Out There | Director Shawn Levy lines up “emotional sci-fi” movie

Currently directing Star Wars: Starfighter, director Shawn Levy is set to direct Somewhere Out There, an original and “emotional” sci-fi film project. Having conquered the box office with his 128-minute fan convention Deadpool & Wolverine, director Shawn Levy is currently working away on Star Wars: Starfighter – a space opera spin-off due for release in ... Somewhere Out There | Director Shawn Levy lines up “emotional sci-fi” movie

Currently directing Star Wars: Starfighter, director Shawn Levy is set to direct Somewhere Out There, an original and “emotional” sci-fi film project.

Having conquered the box office with his 128-minute fan convention Deadpool & Wolverine, director Shawn Levy is currently working away on Star Wars: Starfighter – a space opera spin-off due for release in May 2027.

After those franchise entries, however, Levy could be returning to original genre territory. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the filmmaker is attached to what sounds like a sci-fi drama: Somewhere Out There.

The venture began as an original spec script from the superbly-named screenwriter Max Taxe; it’s described as being akin to Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival and Levy’s own The Adam Project. Thinking about it, those are two very different films, though the common factor appears to be that they both deal with loss in some way.

Somewhere Out There is, per THR, an “emotional sci-fi” about a “grieving father who, after losing his wife, sends a message out into the stars…and something out there starts to talk back.”

Whether it’s quite as emotional as Arrival (based on the equally fantastic short story, Story Of Your Life, by Ted Chiang) remains to be seen. The Adam Project, written and directed by Levy, was also about a grieving protagonist, though it was more an Amblin-esque action thriller than a drama.

The package of Levy and spec script sparked a bidding war, and Netflix has emerged victorious. Who will star in Somewhere Out There isn’t known yet; Levy has worked with Ryan Reynolds several times in the past, as well as Hugh Jackman. Maybe it’ll be one of those, or perhaps a further collaboration with Ryan Gosling after Star Wars: Starfighter.

Whoever stars, Somewhere Out There will likely be at least a couple of years away. We’ll bring you more as we hear about it.