Rogue Squadron may be flying again.
Writer/director Patty Jenkins has stated that her Star Wars project Rogue Squadron is back in active development after it had been backburnered by Lucasfilm for a couple of years.
Speaking with Ben Mankiewicz on Turner Classic Movies’ Talking Pictures podcast, Jenkins revealed that her Star Wars spin off that was originally announced back in December 2020, but was seemingly set aside in favor of her duties to develop a third Wonder Woman film for Warner Brothers, is now back to being worked on.
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 did a deal for that to happen, started a deal. But when Wonder Woman 3 then went away, Lucasfilm and I were like ‘Oh, we gotta finish this deal.’ We finished the deal right as the strike was beginning.
So I now owe a draft of Star Wars. We will see what happens there. 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’m now back on doing Rogue Squadron. We need to develop–you know, get it where we’re both super happy with it.
Should Disney/Lucasfilm decide to give Rogue Squadron a definitive greenlight, it may still be a while before it gets in front of cameras. Currently the studio is gearing up for its next two Star Wars features – Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian spinoff The Mandalorian And Grogu, and director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s announced but still untitled film that will see Daisy Ridley returning to her sequel-trilogy role of Rey. Both of these films are scheduled to begin shooting later this year.
Currently, Disney has staked three dates for undetermined Star Wars films on its release calendar – May 22, 2026, December 18, 2026 and December 17, 2027. With the two films about to go into production most likely getting the two 2026 berths. That leaves Rogue Squadron vying for that third spot against a number of other Star Wars films that Lucasfilm currently has in development. Of course, if it is not ready for that third spot, there could be dates further in the future that it could be aimed at.
Star Wars: Rogue Squadron was originally announced during a Disney Investors Day presentation in December 2020 with an anticipated release date of Christmas 2023. Jenkins’s duties to develop Wonder Woman 3 for Warner Brothers took precedence, so at first the film’s release date was pushed back a year in part due to pandemic lockdown delays before it was removed from Disney’s release calendar entirely in September 2022. The following March came a report that the film project had been entirely shelved, with Jenkins’ statement this week showing that to be false.
