Director Patty Jenkins, known for her Wonder Woman films, recently laid out her vision for the upcoming Star Wars: Rogue Squadron film.
The Rogue Squadron film was announced back in December 2020 during Disney’s 2020 Investor Day.
Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy announced, “And to close today, I couldn’t be more excited that our next Star Wars feature film will be directed by Patty Jenkins.”
Patty, director of the Wonder Woman franchise will bring her inspired vision to Rogue Squadron. This story will introduce a new generation of starfighter pilots as they earn their wings and risk their lives in a boundary pushing, high speed thrill ride,” Kennedy continued.
She concluded, “The legend of Rogue Squadron has been long beloved by Star Wars fans and will move us into a future era of the galaxy. Rogue Squadron will be released in theaters Christmas of 2023.”
Following Kennedy’s announcement, Jenkins shared a video to social media where she described that she hopes to make the film “the greatest fighter pilot movie of all time.”
— Patty Jenkins (@PattyJenks) December 10, 2020
Now, Jenkins spoke with the Associated Press where she revealed that Rogue Squadron is the next film she’s working on and laid out her vision for the film.
Jenkins says, “I’m in love with all three projects on my plate right now. I’m definitely doing Rogue Squadron next and I’m excited to do Wonder Woman 3. And Cleopatra is coming along great as well.”
She went on to detail what’s influencing Rogue Squadron, “I think the Michael Stackpole books and the video game and all of the Rogue Squadron books.”
“There is an incredibly history that it’s really important to honor. And yet it must be brought to a new age because we have to tell a new story with it,” Jenkins added.
She continued, “And so you are trying to blend the best of everything and make it the great fighter pilot movie, which I’ve always wanted to make as well. It’s a big brew of things you are trying to put together, and still keep a very simple story.”
The director then stated, “You are trying to bring the best of yourself and use it to make something beautiful that honors the legacy before you. But of course it’s a huge amount of pressure. And Wonder Woman was a huge amount of pressure as well. So it’s not a totally new feeling to me. Definitely nerve wracking.
Director Patty Jenkins (@PattyJenks) shares her vision for the next Star Wars film, “Rogue Squadron.” pic.twitter.com/ziXtu9v9p3
— AP Entertainment (@APEntertainment) June 29, 2021
It is rather interesting that Jenkins is referencing the Stackpole books given Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy previously claimed Star Wars did not have any source material to draw from in the past.
Back in November 2019, Kennedy was asked about the Disney Star Wars sequel trilogy and whether the final installment was “a particularly hard nut to crack.”
She responded, “Every one of these movies is a particularly hard nut to crack. There’s no source material. We don’t have comic books. We don’t have 800-page novels.”
“We don’t have anything other than passionate storytellers who get together and talk about what the next iteration might be,” she concluded.
Apparently, Jenkins is now incorporating an entire novel series into her vision for the Rogue Squadron film.
Related: Rian Johnson Not Penning Patty Jenkins Upcoming Star Wars Film Rogue Squadron
And the vision for the film is not just Jenkins’ as it was recently revealed by The Hollywood Reporter that she is co-writing the script with Matthew Robinson.
Robinson directed and wrote The Invention of Lying back in 2009 and he most recently wrote the screenplay for Dora and the Lost City of Gold as well as 2020’s Love and Monsters. He’s also currently working on Warner Bros. remake of Little Shop of Horrors.
IMDB also lists him as the screenplay writer for Live Die Repeat and Repeat, but all indications at this time are that a sequel to Edge of Tomorrow is not in the cards.
As for how far they are into the script writing process, Jenkins said back in January, “We’re very far into the — we’re finishing the treatment basically, which is pretty big.”
She elaborated, “So it ends up being like where you’re fairly close to a well-along screenplay by the time I’m done with the treatment in my process. So yeah, we’ve been working on it for awhile. It’s going great. I’m super excited about it. I’m super excited about the story.”
What do you make of Jenkins’ vision for Rogue Squadron? Are you interested in seeing what she’s brewing up?