Rogue Squadron Shelved “Indefinitely”
The official statement is that Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkin’s pet Star Wars film, Rogue Squadron has been delayed without a projected start date. That usually translates from the Hollywoodese as ‘it’s canceled but we don’t want to say it’s canceled.’
It is supposedly being pushed back a year but here is the kill quote from Hollywood Reporter, “The hope is that once Jenkins’ fulfills her previous commitments, she will be able to return to the project.”
Which wouldn’t be able to start until at least 2024.
Rogue Squadron is dead.
The big question is why?
The announcement of Rogue Squadron being shelved was yesterday, today there is an eruption of rumors about LucasFilm. My history with rumors like this is that they have been more optimistic, than accurate.
Kathleen Kennedy’s contract has been extended but nobody, including WDWPro, has any of the details of that still unannounced extension. While it is reasonable to assume that she will be sticking around until Indy 5 is in the theaters, we can only guess at the extension’s other clauses. However, the soft cancelation of Rogue Squadron indicates that there has been a power shift at LucasFilm.
Landing the Wonder Woman director for a big film project was a major coup for Kathleen Kennedy. Admittedly that was before the disaster of WW1984.
Patti Jenkins seemed pretty passionate about the project and was going on at length over how it was going to be a tribute to her dead father. I don’t think she would have walked away from this one of her own volition.
Consequently, I’m willing to go out on a limb and say that project is dead.
However, quite a few other people are going with some rumors that seem a bit too optimistic to me but since WDWPro is confirming some of these, I’ll give you my opinion of his list.
1. Rian Johnson’s contract is dissolved. He will not be involved in any future Star Wars projects going forward.
(Status: Likely. While Johnson would love to make another Star Wars movie or to be exact another movie with the name Star Wars on it that has nothing to do with Star Wars, he is HATED at Fort Mickey for sinking the franchise. If Kay-Kay couldn’t hang on to Jenkins there is no way in hell she was able to keep Roundhead Rian.)
2. The High Republic is a failure and will be struck from canon.
(Status: Possible. Financially the book series has done nothing. Even with aggressive buy-backs to get on the NYT Best Sellers List, the needle hasn’t moved at all. More importantly, the series has failed to draw any interest at all from toy manufacturers. If there is no market for a property’s dolls then there is no future for that property at Chapek’s Disney. Which is a pity because I would have turned my wallet upside for a Geode action figure. However, the Woklings would scream to the rafters if High Republic was struck from canon. If the series is canceled there will be no further mention of it.)
3. Kathleen Kennedy has no remaining power at LucasFilm. F&F have full creative control.
(Status: Unknown. We’ve heard this one plenty of times before but she’s still standing and still president of LucasFilm. At this point I won’t believe she’s gone until she’s gone.)
4. The Acolyte is shelved pending cancelation.
(Status: Probable. This Leslye Headland project was approved by Kathleen Kennedy back in May of 2020 when she was trying to demonstrate that she was still the ultimate power at LucasFilm. She didn’t get approval from either Iger or Chapek before green-lighting it. And Chapek knows how to hold a grudge. There have been no casting announcements, no official stills, not even official concept art – just fan stuff. This is clearly a project that is being starved of resources. If true, we can expect Headland to start screaming shortly.)
Doomcock was also reporting on these rumors, not that he’s been all that accurate since Rise of Skywalker was released. But he also, reported that Andor is being shelved as well. I have my doubts about that one since filming wrapped in September and Disney Plus is starving for content.
The truth is, these are all just rumors. The only thing with a basis in fact is that Jenkin’s project has been pushed back a year but now it doesn’t have a start date. Likely, that project is as dead as Rangers of the New Republic.
Developing.
