Disney's Investor Day 2020 announced a multitude of new projects from the galaxy far, far away, including new Star Wars films for the big screen and television series for Disney+.
Fans received updates on previously announced series like Obi-Wan Kenobi, which will indeed bring Hayden Christensen back in the role of Darth Vader. Some rumored shows were also confirmed, as a series called Ahsoka was announced with Rosario Dawson reprising her role from The Mandalorian.
The next Star Wars film was also announced, which was revealed to be a brand-new take on the popular Rogue Squadron books and video games, headed by Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins. The movie will be an original story from Jenkins, but will draw from the novels and games to make it "the greatest fighter pilot movie of all time," according to the director herself. Rogue Squadron may also be set after the latest Star Wars film The Rise of Skywalker, with the project's description hinting towards a future time period.
Patty Jenkins has now opened up a bit more about the upcoming project, sharing her progress on the film's development...
NEWS
In an interview with Collider, Patty Jenkins spoke about her progress and excitement for the upcoming Star Wars: Rogue Squadron. Jenkins began by discussing how far along the project was, saying that the team is "finishing the treatment:"
"We're very far into the — we're finishing the treatment basically, which is pretty big. So it ends up being like where you're fairly close to a well-along screenplay by the time I'm done with the treatment in my process. So yeah, we've been working on it for awhile. It's going great. I'm super excited about it. I'm super excited about the story."
The filmmaker confirmed that there is a male writer who is scribing the film. Jenkins didn't reveal his name, saying "I want him to have his own proper announcement, so I'm going to wait until that comes out."
Jenkins also spoke about the timeline in which she was working on with Rogue Squadron, as she is also developing Cleopatra with Gal Gadot as the lead. The director stated that it would take "two years probably" in order to see the upcoming Star Wars film to completion, and to a high level of quality at that:
"You can never do it in one year. You could never do a good 'Star Wars' movie in one year or a good 'Cleopatra' in one year. I think each of those movies takes two years probably. But I do think, as I even learned on the two 'Wonder Woman's, I already had sold a limited TV series ['I Am the Night'] that I was in love with when they decided to move the 'Wonder Woman 1984' release date up. So suddenly it was happening on top of each other. And I was actually able to write a huge treatment and have a bunch of creative meetings and go off and do my show while pre-production was happening for 'Wonder Woman 1984.' So there is a lot of ways. Certainly, until I'm on set shooting 'Star Wars,' I could be developing all sorts of other things and pushing them forward. It's actually possible. So, I think that's apparently how people do multiple things at one time, which I'm usually pretty singularly focused, but I'm getting better at this all the time."
WHAT THIS MEANS
In tandem with her undeniable passion for the project, this progress update from Patty Jenkins should be reassuring that development is going smoothly for Rogue Squadron. Even though Jenkins clearly has a lot on her plate juggling Cleopatra and a potential Wonder Woman 3, she seems to be handling this challenge well.
Who this mystery writer for Rogue Squadron could be is anyone's guess, but perhaps this could be where Rian Johnson steps in. While Johnson was supposedly working on his own trilogy, perhaps his project was folded into Jenkins' to consolidate Star Wars' film slate.
It is interesting that Patty Jenkins notes that she may have other ongoing projects whilst filming Rogue Squadron. Jenkins has quickly become one of Hollywood's most successful and sought after creatives, off the back of the massively successful for Wonder Woman and early acclaim for the upcoming WW84. It appears that this success may well continue through production of her Star Wars film, with other projects potentially on the horizon for the director. If Lucasfilm is happy with her work, which is incredibly likely, perhaps these projects could take the form of other opportunities in the Star Wars galaxy.
With there still being around three years before Rogue Squadron's release, there is ample time for Patty Jenkins to ensure that the film is truly "the greatest fighter pilot movie of all time."
Star Wars: Rogue Squadron takes flight on December 22, 2023.
