Tom Cruise got behind the camera to help shoot a lightsaber duel for Star Wars Starfighter: "Now when you see the movie, you'll know that part of it was shot by Tom"

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Tom Cruise got behind the camera to help shoot a lightsaber duel for Star Wars Starfighter: "Now when you see the movie, you'll know that part of it was shot by Tom" News By George Marston published 8 January 2026

Tom Cruise got his hands dirty on the set of Star Wars: Starfighter by helping film a key scene

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Filming for Star Wars: Starfighter is well underway. And though he's not in the cast, superstar actor Tom Cruise actually played a small role in the production, getting behind the camera to help film a key scene.

Speaking to the New York Times, Starfighter director Shawn Levy describes how a set visit from Cruise escalated to the actor to a cameraman, filming part of a lightsaber duel, wading into a pond to capture his angle.

"Last week Steven Spielberg was here. And now Tom Cruise is wielding a camera, ruining his very nice shoes," Levy quips, explaining that he suggested Cruise pick up a camera in jest. "Now when you see the movie, you'll know that part of it was shot by Tom. I mean, how cool is that?"

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Star Wars: Starfighter takes place in a mostly unexplored era of the Star Wars timeline, mostly focusing, as the title implies, on Ryan Gosling's starfighter pilot. Now we know that the film will indeed feature at least one lightsaber duel, one of the most popular aspects of the venerable sci-fi franchise.

Levy has previously cited Return of the Jedi, the final film in the original Star Wars trilogy, as his biggest inspiration for Starfighter. Return of the Jedi does indeed feature some of the most exciting and influential lightsaber combat in the entire Star Wars series thanks to Luke Skywalker's infiltration of Jabba the Hutt's palace barge and his subsequent duel with his own father, the villainous Darth Vader.

Star Wars: Starfighter is scheduled for release on May 28, 2027. While we wait, stay up to date on all the upcoming Star Wars movies and shows that are currently in the works.

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I've been Newsarama's resident Marvel Comics expert and general comic book historian since 2011. I've also been the on-site reporter at most major comic conventions such as Comic-Con International: San Diego, New York Comic Con, and C2E2. Outside of comic journalism, I am the artist of many weird pictures, and the guitarist of many heavy riffs. (They/Them)

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