STAR WARS: ROGUE SQUADRON delayed

Lucasfilm have announced a delay to their next theatrical Star Wars release, Rogue Squadron. The movie was scheduled for release on Christmas Day 2023 but the movie has now been put on indefinite hold due to scheduling issues with director Patty Jenkins.

Jenkins was hired to make the film in late 2020, with the plan being for the film to enter production in 2022. However, Jenkins' schedule has shifted with Warner Brothers greenlighting a third Wonder Woman film, with Jenkins returning to co-write and direct, despite the previous film in the series, Wonder Woman 1984, having a risible performance both critically and commercially. Jenkins has also committed to making Cleopatra, a remake of the 1963 epic, and may shoot that before Wonder Woman 3 and both before Rogue Squadron.

Rogue Squadron has not been officially cancelled and officially remains in development with Jenkins as director. However, it may not see the light now until 2025 or later.

Disney and Lucasfilm have adopted a wary attitude towards the future of the Star Wars franchise on film, following the commercially disappointing performances of Solo: A Star Wars Story (which became the first film in the franchise to lose money at the box office) and The Rise of Skywalker (which made less than half the money of The Force Awakens). Instead, they have pivoted the franchise hard towards television, where The Mandalorian has been a smash hit success for Disney+ and generated two spinoff series: The Book of Boba Fett (to air in December) and Ahsoka (in pre-production). Two other series are in post-production, namely Rogue One spinoff Andor and the long-gestating Obi-Wan Kenobi project starring Ewan McGregor. Both are expected to air in 2022. The streamer is also developing The Acolyte, set in a much earlier time period. A further series, Rangers of the New Republic, was in development for some time but was recently put on indefinite hold. That's not including the animated projects The Bad Batch, Visions and A Droid Story.

On film, aside from Rogue Squadron, Lucasfilm is also developing a Taika Waititi-directed film, although a schedule for that movie has not yet solidified: Waititi has an insanely full directorial slate, including Next Goal Wins (in post-production), Thor: Love and Thunder (in post-production), The Incal (just announced) and a live-action version of Akira, as well as numerous ongoing TV shows. Lucasfilm is also developing a trilogy of Star Wars films to be planned, written and possibly directed by Rian Johnson, but this project has been put on hold due to the huge success of Johnson's Knives Out franchise (and, cynics may say, the polarising reception to Johnson's 2017 movie, The Last Jedi). Marvel head honcho Kevin Feige is also developing a Star Wars project as producer, and Lucasfilm has reportedly held talks on a Knights of the Old Republic movie, possibly contingent on the success of the new video game version of that story now in production.

The future will hold a lot of Star Wars, but the question is how much of it will be in the cinema, where the franchise originated.

Lucasfilm confirm a large number of new STAR WARS projects

Lucasfilm have confirmed they have a large number of new Star Wars projects currently in development. As with Disney's recent slew of announcements about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Star Wars news focuses primarily on television.

The exception to the TV news was the formal confirmation of the next Star Wars feature film. Rogue Squadron is scheduled for release on Christmas Day 2023 and will be helmed by Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins. Jenkins' father was a US fighter pilot who flew F4s for the US military, making the appointment appropriate. Jenkins' video and the logo both show a Rebellion-era T-65 X-wing, suggesting the film will be set around the time of the original trilogy or maybe shortly afterwards.

The only other movie news was confirmation that Taika Waititi would be helming a Star Wars movie. Nothing was revealed about the content other than it is "fresh" and unusual, hinting that Waititi will be bringing his signature comedic slant to the franchise. This isn't Waititi's first space rodeo, since the director previously helmed an episode of The Mandalorian in its first season.

The TV show news was divided between things we knew about and new announcements. Andor began shooting two weeks ago and sees Diego Luna return as Rebel spy and intelligence operative Cassian Andor, and will depict his adventures in the run-up to the events of Rogue One. Genevieve O'Reilly also returns as Mon Mothma. Obi-Wan Kenobi is due to start shooting shortly and will be set on Tatooine ten years after the events of Revenge of the Sith and nine years before the events of A New Hope. The film sees Ewan McGregor return to the role of Obi-Wan. Curiously, it will also see Hayden Christensen reprise his role as Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, presumably in flashback sequences or maybe visions of some kind.

The Clone Wars is getting a sequel series in the form of The Bad Batch, focusing on the members of Clone Force 99, a group of discontented Clone Troopers, in the months and years following the fall of the Old Republic. Another animated series, Visions, will feature 10 anime-inspired short films from Japanese animation studios, whilst A Droid Story will focus on R2-D2 and C3-PO getting into scrapes with a new character.

The Mandalorian is getting two spin-off TV shows which will be set in the same timeframe. Ahsoka will pick up with Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka Tano and follow her adventures, possibly using the World Between Worlds as a narrative device. Rangers of the New Republic sounds like it will be a more original idea focusing on the people helping build up and extent the New Republic's influence.

Lando is a spin-off show focusing on Lando Calrissian (natch), but it's unclear if this will be a show focusing on Billy Dee Williams's older version of the character or Donald Glover's younger version, or perhaps both (with the former framing flashbacks to the younger).

Most intriguing is The Acolyte, a show set during the High Republic era. This era is the focus of a new series of novels and comics set in a time period 400 years before the prequel movies, and it'll be intriguing to see what the TV series will add to the experience.

Lucasfilm also confirmed their first two non-Star Wars projects since the Disney acquisition have been fully greenlit. The fifth Indiana Jones movie will start shooting in the spring with James Mangold directing, whilst the Willow TV series will start shooting in March in Wales.

The Lucasfilm release schedule is as follows:

Film

• Rogue Squadron (25 December 2023)
• Untitled Taika Waititi film (2025)
• Indiana Jones 5 (tbc)

Television

• The Bad Batch (2021)
• Visions (10 episodes, 2021)
• Andor (12 episodes, early 2022)
• Obi-Wan Kenobi (6 episodes, 2022)
• The Acolyte (tbc)
• A Droid Story (tbc)
• Ahsoka (tbc)
• Lando (tbc)
• Rangers of the New Republic (tbc)
• Willow (tbc)

GoG unleash more STAR WARS games

GoG have added yet more Star Wars titles to their store, just a few days after the last batch.

Up today is the incredibly slow and ponderous mega-strategy game Supremacy (titled Rebellion in the USA), which I found so boring that just looking at the box put me to sleep. However, other gamers swear by it due to its slow-boiling, long-term planning. Also the fact that you can have multiple Death Stars running around blowing up planets.

Considerably less dull, although still not great, is Empire at War. This RTS was released in 2006 and enables the player to pit the Empire and Rebels, Separatists and Republic against one another. It wasn't a great game, mainly down to some very stilted ground combat, but some of the space battles were passable. This version includes the Forces of Corruption expansion, and there are many mods out there to improve the game experience.

More well-known is action game Rogue Squadron. Whilst not a patch on the X-Wing series, Rogue Squadron is a much more accessible arcade blaster.

GoG will release four more Star Wars games on the 27th. These are the brilliant Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II (presumably with the Mysteries of the Sith expansion included), the so-so Starfighter and the superb tactical FPS Republic Commando.