Disney Has Some Good Rogue Squadron News For Star Wars Fans

In late 2021, Disney's highly-anticipated "Rogue Squadron" movie appeared to be wasting away inside the belly of a studio space slug. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film was put on hold indefinitely due to so-called "scheduling issues" with director Patty Jenkins. Other sources quickly indicated that the problems at hand were much more severe. Indeed, Matthew Belloni of Puck News reported less than a week later that Jenkins and Lucasfilm executives were dealing with "creative differences" and were simply struggling to agree on the script. 

However, "Star Wars" fans may not want to start crying over spilled Bantha Milk just yet. When we last heard about the "Rogue Squadron" film, Jenkins was still set to helm the X-Wing-filled "Star Wars" spinoff, but pre-production was being pushed from late 2021 to some indeterminate point in 2022. According to THR's story, Jenkins had been bogged down by prior commitments related to "Wonder Woman 3," as well as a "Cleopatra" project with Paramount, both of which supposedly prevented her from getting "Rogue Squadron" off the ground and running. In the time since this announcement, Jenkins has backed out of "Cleopatra" (via Variety), and "Wonder Woman 3" isn't expected to start shooting until 2023 (via Deadline).

Interestingly, as revealed after Disney's presentation at CinemaCon, these changes appear to have had a surprising effect on the expected release date of "Rogue Squadron." 

It appears that despite numerous bumps in the road, Disney and Lucasfilm are still hoping to get "Rogue Squadron" out by Christmas 2023. While the project was notably absent from the 2023 film slate shown at CinemaCon (via @ScoutTheTrooper), Disney later sent out an updated schedule to media outlets that still places "Rogue Squadron" in its December 22, 2023 release date. If this is to be believed, it would surely mean that all scheduling issues and/or creative differences have apparently been sorted out.

Some outlets are understandably skeptical of such claims. Indeed, Steven Weintraub of Collider even tweeted, "My gut says this film never gets made." Elsewhere, Jordan Maison, the editor-in-chief of Cinelinx, tweeted a humorously timed GIF of Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) saying "Hope" in response to Disney's updated calendar.

Many other "Star Wars" fans evidently welcomed the news with open arms, while still expressing guarded hope about the future of the project. "I actually now think this film will happen," tweeted @Spudwick35. "It may not happen next year. But it's definitely happening."

Other fans weren't quite so confident. "I really hope that Rogue Squadron doesn't get full-on canceled," @Laughlan_Xashe tweeted. "I miss actually going to see a 'Star Wars' film in cinemas."

Of course, a cautiously optimistic approach seems prudent at this stage of the game. While "Rogue Squadron" still appears to be a go for Christmas 2023, things could always change somewhere down the line. Notably, as of this writing, Disney has yet to announce a cast or plot description for the film.