‘Rogue Squadron’ Back in Development, Says Director Patty Jenkins
Good news! Rogue Squadron has been pulled off the shelf and is back into production, according to director Patty Jenkins.
Rogue Squadron focuses on a new generation of starfighter pilots who risk their lives while earning their wings—a kind of Star Wars Top Gun. The studio described it as “a boundary-pushing, high-speed thrill ride” that would move the epic saga into a new era of the galaxy.
The movie, to be directed by Patty Jenkins, was announced in 2020 (a few weeks before Wonder Woman 2 dropped on streaming during the pandemic shutdowns) and given a December 22, 2023 release date. Rogue Squadron was put on hold in 2021 so Jenkins could make another Wonder Woman movie. A year later, it was removed from the schedule entirely. There hasn’t been much news about the project–until now.
With James Gunn taking over DC and creating an entirely new slate that doesn’t include Diana, a third Wonder Woman movie is no longer in the cards. Jenkins is able to go back to Star Wars.
The director recently appeared on the Talking Pictures podcast and revealed that development on Rogue Squadron has resumed.
“So, when I left Star Wars to do Wonder Woman 3, I thought maybe I’ll come back to Star Wars after Wonder Woman 3 So we did a deal for that to happen, started a deal, but I thought I was doing Wonder Woman. When that went away, Lucasfilm and I were like, ‘Oh, we gotta finish this deal.’ We finished the deal right as the strike was happening. So I now owe a draft of Star Wars and so we will see what happens there.
You know, like, who knows? They have a hard job in front of them of what’s the first movie they’re gonna do. They have other directors who have been working, but I am now, you know, I’m back on doing Rogue Squadron and we’ll see what happens. We need to develop and get it to where we’re both super happy with it.”
What’s Next for Star Wars?
The Lucasfilm release schedule, like many other studio slates, has been moved around several times. As of January this year:
- The Acolyte – June 5, 2024 (rumored)
- Skeleton Crew – late 2024 TBA
- Andor S2 – 2025 TBA
- The Mandalorian & Grogu – TBA
- Movie directed by Shawn Levy – TBA
- Movie directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy – TBA
- Movie directed by Dave Filoni – TBA
- Movie directed by James Mangold – TBA
- Movie directed by Taika Waititi – TBA
- Lando series – TBA
That’s a lot of untitled projects and unknown drop dates. It certainly feels like the studio is uncertain of what to do next after a run of the not-so-great Disney+ series and a divisive film trilogy.
The popularity of franchise films, which Disney has relied on for decades, is cycling out again. A recent poll showed that Millenials and Gen Z want original stories and independent filmmakers, not remakes or big studio projects.
In 2023, comic book movies earned less at the box office, while movies like Oppenheimer and Barbie broke records. I have a feeling we’ll see more of that shift this year – Dune: Part Two is already leading the charge.
