‘Star Wars: Rogue Squadron’ Delayed: Is Kathleen Kennedy to Blame?
Rogue Squadron, the Star Wars spinoff film from Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins, has been pulled from Lucasfilm’s production schedule.
The film, based on the famed group of pilots for the Rebel Alliance, was announced nearly a year ago, with Jenkins and writer Matthew Robinson (Dora and the Lost City of Gold) developing it. Preproduction was supposed to begin later this year, with cameras rolling sometime in 2022.
Now, Lucasfilm has ceased production on the film, and pulled it from its 2023 theatrical release date. According to an exclusive report by The Hollywood Reporter, “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.”
The report goes on to say that Jenkins is expected to return to Rogue Squadron once work on her other projects, including Wonder Woman 3 and Cleopatra, is completed.
Jenkins, however, was scheduled to begin her other projects after work on Rogue Squadron had completed. The timeframe on those projects has not changed, so it appears the trouble is with the development of the latest Star Wars film. Delays in development and preproduction are common, but to completely shut down development on a film months before production begins is a rare thing.
While the exact reason for the development delay with Rogue Squadron is unknown, it fits a pattern of problems tied directly to micromanagement from Lucasfilm executives with Star Wars feature films.
A History of Production Troubles at Lucasfilm
Under the leadership of Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, every Star Wars film has undergone significant production setbacks.
The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi had so many changes to their stories that Simon Kinsberg’s initial outline for Episode IX, written early in the production of the Sequel Trilogy, was discarded.
After the disastrous fan response to The Last Jedi, Episode IX (eventually titled The Rise of Skywalker) underwent major changes, which was confirmed by some cast and crew. Colin Trevorrow stepped down as director before filming began on his script, titled Duel of the Fates.
Abrams was brought back to direct, but troubles continued. Reshoots were ordered in the weeks leading up to the film’s 2019 release, and several major changes were made, including removing a character played by Matt Smith. Sound editor Matthew Wood confirmed late changes to the script forced Adam Driver to record some of his lines in his apartment closet while wearing the Kylo Ren mask, weeks before the film’s release.
Kennedy ordered massive rewrites and reshoots on Rogue One, replacing director Gareth Edwards with Tony Gilroy. Composer Alexandre Desplat’s original score was rejected, and Michael Giacchino was brought in last-minute to write the music.
Kennedy fired the original directors of Solo, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, halfway through production, replacing them with Ron Howard. The film was nearly entirely reshot.
Ironically, Kennedy’s micromanagement of Star Wars films seems to run counter to her hands-off approach to Star Wars television, where creative decisions are left to specific people, notably Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni. Perhaps that is why Star Wars television is more coherent and successful.
When Rogue Squadron was first announced in December of 2020, Patty Jenkins said in an announcement video that she wanted to make the “greatest fighter pilot movie ever made,” citing her father (a jet fighter pilot) as inspiration.
With no new Star Wars films on the horizon, fans do have a number of television series to look forward to. The Book of Boba Fett debuts later this month, with The Mandalorian season three following soon after. More event series, including Obi-Wan Kenobi, Andor and Ahsoka are all in production.
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