Delayed Star Wars Movie Just Got Some New Hope

Amidst the turmoil of Wonder Woman 3's cancellation, director Patty Jenkins reveals that her long-in-development Star Wars movie Rogue Squadron is still coming.

X-Wings in Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Photo: Lucasfilm

These days, it seems like Warner Bros. and DC Studios are the prime places for shakeups and release schedule changes. But before things got hairy for Marvel’s Distinguished Competition, there was plenty of turmoil in a galaxy far, far away. While Star Wars has produced a steady flow of television shows for Disney+, from Obi-Wan Kenobi to Andor, its movie business has taken a back seat. Supposedly upcoming film projects, such as a new trilogy from The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson and a new standalone entry from Taika Waititi, have languished in development, with little to show years after they were originally announced.

Twenty-four hours ago, most would have counted Rogue Squadron among the many Star Wars movies that never came into fruition. Originally announced in 2020 with Patty Jenkins as director, Rogue Squadron promised to tell a new story about the famed X-wing fighters that would “move the saga into the future era of the galaxy,” according to the official description. But after Jenkins decided to prioritize making a third Wonder Woman movie with Gal Gadot for WB, Rogue Squadron went on the backburner and most considered it canceled.

However, in the midst of recent reports about her relationship with DC Studios and the future of the Wonder Woman franchise, Jenkins has provided an encouraging update to her Star Wars film. “Here are the facts,” she wrote in a statement posted to social media. Jenkins explained that she left Rogue Squadron because she didn’t want to delay Wonder Woman 3 any further. But according to the director, Lucasfilm asked her to consider returning to the project once work on Wonder Woman 3 was complete, and she agreed to do so. “They made a new deal with me,” she explained. “In fact, I am still on it and [Rogue Squadron] has been in active development ever since.”

That said, Jenkins stopped short of promising the movie would definitely going to see the light of day. “I don’t know if it will happen or not,” she admitted. “We never do until the development process is complete, but I look forward to its potential ahead.”

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Jenkins has good reason to be so measured. Her statement comes in response to controversial decisions at DC Studios, including the apparent shelving of Wonder Woman 3. Initially, sources reported that newly-installed DC Studios heads James Gunn and Peter Safran canceled the movie, presumably because it did not fit the producers’ new vision for the shared universe. Then, follow-up reports suggested that Jenkins had walked away from the film. But in her statement, the director insisted that she didn’t choose to leave the project: “I was open to considering anything that was asked of me [but it] was my understanding that there was nothing I could do to move anything forward at this time.”

Whatever the case may be at DC, Jenkins’ Rogue Squadron revelation is just the latest exciting update about upcoming Star Wars movies. While on the press tour for his latest movie Glass Onion, Rian Johnson shared that he too remains hopeful that his trilogy will happen when the timing is right. Although no Star Wars film has hit screens since 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker, it seems like Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy remains committed to the franchise’s original medium. Hopefully, this announcement means not only that Jenkins will be able to make her Rogue Squadron movie, but also that other announced big-screen projects will eventually get off the ground, too.

While you wait for more Rogue Squadron news, check out the complete schedule of upcoming Star Wars movies and TV series here.