Patty Jenkins' 'Rogue Squadron' Has Been Delayed
It has been recently reported that the production of the upcoming film Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, directed by Patty Jenkins, has been delayed. Rogue Squadron was to begin pre-production at the end of this year and begin production in 2022, with Jenkins directing and Matthew Robinson (Love and Monsters) as the writer.
Although it has not been specified what the reason for the delay is, it is being chalked up to Jenkins's busy schedule. Besides Rogue Squadron, Jenkins is also developing Wonder Woman 3 for Warner Bros. and Cleopatra for Paramount. For now, Rogue Squadron has been taken off the production schedule. Hopefully, once her other commitments are fulfilled, Jenkins will be able to return to the project in galaxy far, far away.
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When first announced at Disney Investor Day in December 2020, Rogue Squadron was scheduled to be the first Star Wars theatrical release since Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019) with a planned release date of December 23, 2023. That date still stands as of right now. However, as we have seen with the Marvel films, release dates can change at any moment in the days of COVID.
Along with Rogue Squadron, Disney also announced two other upcoming Star Wars films, one directed by Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok, Jojo Rabbit), and the other involving Marvel Studios' Kevin Feige. As of now, there has not been any news of these two projects changing dates to replace Rogue Squadron on the production schedule.
Patty Jenkins released a video to accompany the announcement of Rogue Squadron. In the video, Jenkins shared how her father being a fighter pilot was an inspiration for the film. Her goal is to make "the greatest fighter pilot movie ever made." Jenkins is not the only member of the Star Wars family to have a father that is also a pilot. Vanessa Marshall, who played Hera Syndulla in Star Wars: Rebels, said she also thought of her father while voicing the role.
Deadline reported in October 2020 that Jenkins is reuniting with Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot to make a film based on the Egyptian queen Cleopatra with Gadot in the lead role. Gadot and Jenkins hired Laeta Kalogridis (Alexander, Shutter Island, Alita: Battle Angel) to be the writer. There is no current release date for Cleopatra. As of December 2020, the production timeline for Wonder Woman 3 is unknown.
In this new era of Star Wars, the lack of theatrical releases takes some getting used to. However, the incredible success of The Mandalorian has assuaged any concerns of Star Wars losing its magical touch. Because of the success of The Mandalorian, Lucasfilm is focusing the brunt of their production efforts on Disney+ content with shows like The Book of Boba Fett, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Andor, and Ahsoka. As for non-Star Wars projects, Lucasfilm also has Indiana Jones 5 in their back pocket.
Whenever it gets released, it will be interesting to see what could be the story for a film like Rogue Squadron other than X-wing fighters just flying around. The timeline for Rogue Squadron within the Star Wars story is also unclear. The only known thing is that it will be set after the sequel trilogy. With the First Order defeated, will there be a new threat in the galaxy for the Rogue Squadron to face? Will it be a quasi-sequel to Rogue One, or could it be more character-driven with a series to follow? Always in motion, the future is. The reassuring news is that Lucasfilm is not rushing anything in order to ensure that the best possible story is told no matter how long it takes. In the meantime, the fans have plenty of Star Wars content to lose themselves in.
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Source(s): Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Deadline