Rogue Squadron is just one of several Star Wars films that may never happen
By Ben Winnell
According to sources from The Hollywood Reporter, there is insider speculation that a series of planned Star Wars releases have either been pushed back or had their release dates pulled, meaning that they have been delayed ‘indefinitely’.
The primary targets of the schedule reshuffle seem to be Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins’ feature entitled Rogue Squadron that was slated for release in 2023 and was due to begin production in mere months.
The other was the long-planned trilogy of films from The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson, whose films were never given a precise release date but now seem to be off the table or otherwise also indefinitely delayed.
The Johnson series was announced even before Episode VIII released in December of 2017.
While there is scant word on the status of the Johnson movies, it is understood that Jenkins was unable to compromise on changes to the films script and experienced creative differences with Lucasfilm executives, including Senior Vice-President of Live Action Development and Production for Lucasfilm Michelle Rejwan.
The Disney era of Star Wars has experienced several projects being delisted or having directors change hands. In the past few years alone, we have witnessed the birth and death of a supposed live-action Boba Fett film that was to be helmed by Fantastic 4 director Josh Trank as well as a series of films from Game of Thrones showrunners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff that were scrapped after the show’s series finale.
What was different about Jenkins’ project was Lucasfilm seemed to already be happily committed to her directorship and even introduced the film at Disney’s Investor Day event last year with a live-action sizzle reel that revealed the films title card and even had a real-life X-Wing starfighter.
Whereas other projects had simple half-lives as a series of press releases, this film had clear pre-production in mind and a confirmed release date, all of which is now gone.
Curiously, the rescheduling woes of Star Wars films projects have not been shared as deeply with the franchise’s television plans. With the exception of the now almost certainly cancelled Rangers of the New Republic, the Disney+ series have reportedly had reasonably smooth productions even owing to the expected delays related to COVID-19.
Officially, spokespersons for Jenkins’ have said that her other film commitments do not allow for her to deliver the film on time. These other projects include a third Wonder Woman film as well as a Cleopatra movie also starring Gal Gadot.
dark. Next. Rosario Dawson filming for Star Wars this December
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