Shawn Levy recruits Top Gun: Maverick cinematographer for Star Wars: Starfighter

Claudio Miranda is Joseph Kosinski's go-to D.P. who shot Maverick, F1, and Tron: Legacy.

By Matt Schimkowitz | August 31, 2025 | 5:51pm

Screenshot: YouTube

Film News Star Wars: Starfighter

Shawn Levy recruits Top Gun: Maverick cinematographer for Star Wars: Starfighter

Shawn Levy isn’t simply enlisting Hollywood A-listers for his upcoming Star Wars: Starfighter. He’s bringing some top-notch photographic prowess to the production. Yesterday, Levy confirmed that Claudio Miranda, the director of photography on Top Gun: Maverick and Tron: Legacy, among other films helmed by Joseph Kosinski, will shoot the Star Wars spin-off. Responding to an X post by Culture Craft, which claimed Mirada would “reportedly serve as cinematographer on Star Wars: Starfighter,” Levy wrote, “Confirmed. Lucky me.”

Actually, “lucky us.” The first Star Wars movie since 2019 already lined up an impressive cast of actors, including Ryan Gosling, Amay Adams, Aaron Pierre, Matt Smith, and Mia Goth. But Miranda’s inventive visuals helped make Maverick, Tron: Legacy, and this summer’s F1 unmissable theatrical experiences. Does this mean he’ll strap a shit-ton of cameras to the sides of an X-wing and make Starfighter sing in 4DX? It couldn’t hurt. In the past few years, Miranda has revolutionized cockpit photography, which could help Star Wars break away from the cinematic grammar it has been leaning on since the ’70s. Miranda has done plenty of magic with digital effects, too. He won an Academy Award for Life Of Pi and earned a nomination for The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button. With that kind of resume, making Ryan Gosling look like a rogue leader should be a cakewalk.