According to a new report, one Star Wars movie is getting turned into a Disney+ series. The future of Star Wars on streaming is more unclear than it ever has been, with The Mandalorian making the jump to the big screen, Andor ending with Season 2, and no further episodes of Ahsoka announced outside of its incoming second batch.
Insider MyTimeToShineHello shared some new information about Patty Jenkins' Rogue Squadron film, reporting that the long-in-development Star Wars film is back on the table and is being repackaged as a big-budget streaming series. No further information was given, including when fans may actually see the project.
First announced at Disney Investor's Day 2020, Rogue Squadron has seen its fair share of bumps in the road over the last half-decade and change. The film, which was set to be helmed by Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins, faced several delays, pushing production from its reported 2021 start date, before being taken off the Star Wars slate entirely.
Since then, there have been whispers of the film every few months. After Jenkins was taken off a potential Wonder Woman 3 at DC, thanks to the relaunch of the super-powered franchise under James Gunn and Peter Safran, some had wondered if that meant the movie might finally happen.
In September, it was then reported that the movie had been freed from its carbonite prison and was back on the table at Lucasfilm. This latest update could be connected to that September report, with the Star Wars brain trust reviving Rogue Squadron not as a film, but rather an episodic streaming show.
Rogue Squadron was described as a space-faring epic following the next generation of starfighters as they "get their wings." Described as 'Top Gun in space,' the Patty Jenkins-directed blockbuster, which was once slated for a 2023 release, never made it out of the hangar, joining several Star Wars projects left in stasis.
Why Rogue Squadron Makes Sense as a Streaming Series
Fans who have been waiting for years for Rogue Squadron news might be a little disappointed in hearing that it could be refashioned into a Disney+ series, but it ultimately might be the best thing for the franchise.
The future of Star Wars on Disney+ is wholly unclear. For the first time since the Disney-owned streamer opened its doors, the Star Wars streaming slate is empty after the end of next year.
In fact, after Ahsoka Season 2, there are zero live-action Star Wars Disney+ shows in production. Of course, that could all change very quickly, but for now, Star Wars fans are floating through streaming hyperspace without a wayfinder to direct them. What better way to fill that void than with something like Rogue Squadron?
Previously, there was a starfighter-based streaming show in the works for Rangers of the New Republic, but that project was ultimately abandoned thanks to the controversy surrounding what was supposed to be its leading star, Gina Carrano.
Rogue Squadron could capture some of what Disney and Lucasfilm were trying to achieve with that series, at least in terms of tone, while setting up perhaps another corner of the Star Wars universe that future streaming shows could explore in the future.
