Rogue Squadron

[Jeff]

Starting up a thread for this one...  can't wait as I loves me some Rogue Squadron content!!

[Dave]

This was one of my favorite comics/books that they've come out with and I've always thought was fertile ground for a live action TV series.

I just read the press release so I apologize if there is more information out there. 

I'm curious what timeline this takes place in.  Hopefully its in the Empire days like the comics were.

I also wonder what "feature film" means in today's movie vernacular.  Does that mean its meant to be a theater release / blockbuster, or does it just mean its going to be a roughly two hour "film" that is going to be released on Disney+.

I still think this would be a fantastic series vs. a movie, so I'm hoping this later becomes a running series like The Mandalorian.

[Mister Skeezler]

Patti Jenkins is directing (Awesome!) and she tweeted this announcement. I'm ******* psyched for this...

Ugh...can't embed the tweet, so just use the link above ^

[Matt_Fury]

Good news so far.

[Nicklab]

I am beyond impressed with the hiring of Patty Jenkins to helm this project.  Especially after hearing her talk about her father who was a fighter pilot.  Her film credentials stand on their own to begin with, but that perspective of life experience only makes me more impressed that she has signed on for Rogue Squadron.

[Ryan]

Uh-oh... It sounds like Rogue Squadron may be on-hold indefinitely -- if not off the table altogether. 

(The same is also true for Rian Johnson's trilogy, but I think I just already assumed those weren't going to happen anymore...)

Per The Hollywood Reporter:

... sources say the producers and filmmaking team came to the realization that Jenkins’ schedule and other commitments wouldn’t allow for the window needed to make the movie in 2022.

Thus, Squadron [sic] has been taken off the production schedule. The hope is that once Jenkins’ fulfills her previous commitments, she will be able to return to the project.

& Dorkside:

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.
...
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.

This is really disappointing but not entirely unexpected given the way the production on all of the films have gone so far. Outside of "The Force Awakens", we have yet to see one of the films have the same director/writers for the entire project. Clearly there are systemic problems at Lucasfilm / Disney. If it weren't for the fact that it would stretch them way too thin, I wish they would just give Filoni and Favreau full creative control over all Star Wars properties. Clearly LFL needs some kind of a leadership shakeup at this point. All of the best Star Wars content over the last 14 years has come from Filoni and Favreau, they need to find someone of a similar mindset who understands Star Wars, and is willing to actually trust their writers / directors. And if  it really is just an issue with the vision that those writers and director are having with the films, then LFL / Disney needs to replace the person(s) that is hiring them in the first place.

I really hope we still get to see a Patti Jenkins Rogue Squadron at some point, but I am not holding my breath. 

[Muftak]

Outside of "The Force Awakens", we have yet to see one of the films have the same director/writers for the entire project. Clearly there are systemic problems at Lucasfilm / Disney.

Michael Arndt was writing the script for TFA before Jj was hired as director. He left and the writing team became JJ and Kasdan. So even that one had turbulence.

I wanted to be excited about Rogue Squadron, but the name kept prompting images of OT adventures even though they said it was set after Episode 9. I have a feeling I would have ultimately been disappointed by the story.

[Dave]

That's too bad.  I was really looking forward to this movie as I think she is a solid director and I like the fact that they were likely focusing on an area within Star Wars that wasn't too messy with Jedi, etc.

The press release is definitely spin for "creative differences".  I hope they find a way to work it out as this could be cool.

I'm not sure if the leadership at Lucasfilm is difficult to work with, if they don't set clear expectations ahead of time, or what seems to cause the challenges with directors/stories.  I can see where when they hire less experienced directors that there might be challenges pulling off a big budget movie, but that can't be the case with Patty Jenkins.

[Matt_Fury]

This shouldn't be so difficult.  Take the Magnificent Seven, set it in the Star wars universe, I give you money.  No one at Lucasfilm has figured that one out yet.

[Nicklab]

I'm fine with a delay in the release of the Rogue Squadron film as long as the right people are involved.  In the new Disney era I've found myself to be more fond of the standalone movies and The Mandalorian than the sequel trilogy as a whole.  Truth be told, I felt like "The Last Jedi" was probably the strongest of the three ST movies in terms of story, character development and visuals.  I don't think JJ truly got it, even if he did work with Larry Kasdan.

Having people who truly understand the material is crucial, along with their vision for the project.  Favreau and Filoni were totally on point when they looked to the films and genres that inspired George Lucas.  In the case of what they were doing that was largely westerns and Samurai films.  That leaves me wondering if Patty Jenkins would look to similar sources for the "Rogue Squadron" film?  Would it be inspired largely by WWII air combat movies like "Battle of Britain" or "The Dam busters"?  Those movies were actually a big inspiration for how George Lucas wanted the OT space battles to look.

As for the story?  I was actually under the impression that "Rogue Squadron" would have taken place after the events of "Return of the Jedi".  It left me wondering if they would wind up re-casting Wedge since Denis Lawson isn't exactly of an age to reprise the role himself.

[P-Siddy]

Hopefully LFL/Disney rethink this whole concept of a Rogue Squadron movie and make it into a series.  I feel like the creators could explore a lot more of the characters this way than they could in a movie.