Patty Jenkins‘ “Star Wars” movie “Rogue Squadron” might not be dead after all. The project, centered on fighter pilots in the “Star Wars” universe, was first announced at the end of 2020 and was put on the calendar for a December 2023 theatrical release. By September 2022, however, Disney had pulled the title from its release schedule. Variety reported last May that “Rogue Squadron” was no longer in active development at Lucasfilm.
In a new interview on the “Talking Pictures” podcast, Jenkins announced that she is now once again in development on the script for “Rogue Squadron” following the dissolution of her planned “Wonder Woman 3” at Warner Bros. and DC Studios. Variety has reached out to Lucasfilm for comment.
“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 started a deal for that to happen,” Jenkins said. “When ‘Wonder Woman 3’ then went away, Lucasfilm and I were like ‘Oh, we’ve got to finish this deal.’ We finished the deal right as the strike was beginning, so I now owe a draft of ‘Star Wars.’ So we will see what happens there. Who knows.”
“They have a hard job in front of them of, ‘What’s the first movie they’re going to do?’” Jenkins added about Lucasfilm. “They have other directors who have been working, but I am now back on doing ‘Rogue Squadron.’ We’ll see what happens. We need to get it to where we’re both super happy with it.”
“Rogue Squadron” is still not yet confirmed to be officially happening, but Jenkins is working on a script for it. She said she would be “absolutely” happy to make it, adding: “The emotion of ‘Star Wars’ and what it stands for is something so beautiful in this world…If i can do something beautiful and do something that serves that audience, I would love to do it.”
Jenkins had been developing a third “Wonder Woman” to star Gal Gadot, which appears to be one reason “Rogue Squadron” stalled in the first place. In December 2022, however, news broke that “Wonder Woman 3” had fallen apart after Warner Bros. leadership passed on Jenkins’ treatment for the sequel. Jenkins publicly exited the project. The news hit shortly after James Gunn and Peter Safran took the reins of DC Studios and announced they would be overhauling the DC Universe, which led to speculation that Jenkins had rebuffed efforts to reshape “Wonder Woman 3” to fit into their DC Universe.
“I never walked away,” Jenkins shared in a post on Twitter at the time. “I was open to considering anything asked of me. It was my understanding there was nothing I could do to move anything forward at this time. DC is obviously buried in changes they are having to make, so I understand these decisions are difficult right now.”
Roughly an hour after Jenkins posted her statement, Gunn supported her on Twitter, replying, “I can attest that all of Peter and my interactions with you were only pleasant and professional.”
Jenkins said on the “Talking Pictures” podcast that her experience with “Wonder Woman” is over “for the time being, easily forever.” She directed both “Wonder Woman” and “Wonder Woman 1984,” making her one of the most prominent female directors in Hollywood.
“They aren’t interested in doing any ‘Wonder Woman’ for the time being,” Jenkins said. “It’s not an easy task, with what’s going on with DC. James Gunn and Peter Safran have to follow their own heart into their own plans. I don’t know what they are planning on doing or why, so I have sympathy for what a big job it is and they have to follow their heart and do what they’ve got planned.”
Listen to Jenkins’ full appearance on the “Talking Pictures” podcast in the video below.
