Shawn Levy’s Next Film Is an Emotional Sci-Fi for Netflix

Fresh off wrapping Star Wars: Starfighter, Shawn Levy isn’t taking a breath. The Deadpool & Wolverine director is set to helm Somewhere Out There, an original sci-fi drama for Netflix that the streamer picked up after a competitive bidding war over the spec script by writer Max Taxe.

The premise is quietly devastating: a grieving father, reeling from the loss of his wife, sends a message out into the stars — and something out there starts to talk back. Levy and his team are describing it as “emotional sci-fi,” a term that immediately calls to mind two specific touchstones: Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival — which Levy actually produced — and Levy’s own The Adam Project, the time-travel family drama he made with Netflix back in 2022. If those are the reference points, expect something that hits you in the chest before you see it coming.

Levy will also produce through his 21 Laps banner alongside company partner Dan Levine. Becca Edelman, who originally brought the project into 21 Laps, will oversee development.

A Writer Netflix Should Know By Now

Taxe isn’t a stranger to either the sci-fi space or the 21 Laps orbit. He previously wrote Moonshot, the sci-fi romantic comedy starring Lana Condor and Cole Sprouse that debuted on HBO Max in 2022, and he already has another 21 Laps script in development — Ripple, which has Jack Quaid attached to star. Somewhere Out There is clearly the project that’s put him on the map in a bigger way, and the bidding war it generated says plenty about how the industry is reading the material.

Sources also tell The Hollywood Reporter that several prominent actors are already circling the role of the grieving father — which tracks, given that Levy has a habit of attracting major names. His recent collaborators include Ryan Reynolds, Ryan Gosling, Hugh Jackman, and Mark Ruffalo. Gosling, for what it’s worth, just finished leading Levy’s Starfighter cast alongside Amy Adams, Matt Smith, Mia Goth, and Aaron Pierre.

What Levy Is Walking Into Next

Star Wars: Starfighter is heading into a lengthy post-production process ahead of its May 28, 2027 theatrical release, which gives Levy room to move on Somewhere Out There in the meantime. It’s a smart pivot — from the biggest franchise in cinema to something intimate and original, the kind of project that reminds audiences (and awards voters) what a filmmaker is actually made of.

And 21 Laps itself is having a moment. The banner is currently in production on two other Netflix projects: One Attempt Remaining, a comedy directed by Kay Cannon and starring Jennifer Garner and John Cena, and an untitled hockey series starring Michelle Monaghan. Add Somewhere Out There to the pile, and it’s clear Levy’s company is operating at full throttle.

For Levy, whose Deadpool & Wolverine crossed $1.3 billion worldwide to become the highest-grossing R-rated movie in history, the pressure to follow that up is real. But a quiet, grief-soaked story about a man reaching into the universe for something he lost? That sounds less like a follow-up and more like a reset — the kind of film he clearly wants to make, not just the kind he’s expected to.

No casting announcements yet, but with names already circling, that news probably isn’t far off.