Patty Jenkins says her previously shelved Star Wars project, Rogue Squadron is back in development.
The Wonder Woman director shared the update in during an interview with the Talking Pictures podcast. It’s a surprising update for those who thought the fighter pilot-focused spinoff would never land, but Jenkins says she is at least back writing a draft now that her schedule has opened up.
“When I left Star Wars to do Wonder Woman 3, and I started working on that, we talked about, ‘Well, maybe I’ll come back to Star Wars after Wonder Woman 3,’ so we started a deal for that to happen,” she said. “When Wonder Woman 3 then went away, Lucasfilm and I were like ‘Oh, we’ve got to finish this deal.’ We finished the deal right as the strike was beginning, so I now owe a draft of Star Wars.”
In other words, Rogue Squadron remains in the early stages of development since our last update in 2022. However, it’s at least some positive news that signals Disney still wants this project to happen in some form. The company is currently in a bit of a lull when it comes to Star Wars movies as Disney+ spinoff shows content continues to roll out. Other films in the works include The Mandalorian & Grogu as well as Taika Waititi’s untitled movie.
“They have a hard job in front of them of, ‘What’s the first movie they’re going to do?’” she continued. “They have other directors who have been working, but I am now back on doing Rogue Squadron. We’ll see what happens. We need to get it to where we’re both super happy with it.”
Star Wars: Rogue Squadron was originally announced as a Jenkins-directed film in 2020. Progress continued steadily from there until Disney hit fans with an indefinite delay in 2021. Then, the following year, the company removed the project from its calendar entirely.
It wasn’t until April 2023 that LucasFilm President Kathleen Kennedy clarified that her Rogue Squadron project could still happen. At the time, she said the film is something that “we still talk about,” though she also warned that it may not return as what was originally pitched.
“Whether it’s a movie, or whether it ends up being in the series space, that’s definitely something,” she said.
Although Jenkins does say today that she’s always wanted to create a “fighter pilot movie,” it’s still unclear if Rogue Squadron will stick to the original vision.
Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.
Be sure to give him a follow on Twitter @MikeCripe.
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