The next Star Wars feature film will be Rogue Squadron — directed by Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman franchise). The 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, and move the saga into the future era of the galaxy.
Lock S-foils in attack position: Rogue Squadron arrives in theaters Christmas 2023.
Rogue Squadron was first announced during a Disney investor's broadcast on December 10, 2020 where Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy revealed the film's title, release date, and director, Patty Jenkins. At the same time as the broadcast, Jenkins released a video on her Twitter account, where she discussed the film's personal connection to her, as her father was a pilot. On December 12, Jenkins revealed that Rogue Squadron will be an entirely new and original story and not an adaptation of the novel and video game series. On December 14, in an interview with Collider, Jenkins revealed that the film has been in development for a long while, with a story treatment almost having been completed. She also expressed her excitement over the story, and said that a writer had been already hired for the project, but had not yet been revealed. A day later, on December 15, in an interview with Yahoo!, Jenkins discussed the high amount of pressure she felt to direct a Star Wars film, and how her position as the first woman director of a film in the franchise was a "groundbreaking position."
On June 25, 2021, The Hollywood Reporter, via their "Heat Vision" newsletter, reported that screenwriter was attached to write the script for the film. On June 29, in an interview with the Associated Press, stated that the film would honor books from author Michael A. Stackpole in the Star Wars: X-Wing series as well as the video game series, while also bringing the story into a "new age." In an interview with the news site a month later, Jenkins explained how she was developing the film with Lucasfilm: "It's an entirely different way of working. I'm on the phone with all of them and doing Zoom meetings with everybody involved in Star Wars all the time. I'm fairly free to do the story that we want to do, but you really need to know who's done what, who's doing what, where it goes and how it works, and what designs have been done before. It's a whole other way of working that I'm getting up to speed on."
On November 8, 2021, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Rogue Squadron had originally been slated to begin production in 2022, but was delayed due to Patty Jenkins's commitments to other projects. Therefore, the film was officially taken off of Lucasfilm's production schedule.
In May 2022, in an interview with Vanity Fair, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy confirmed that Rogue Squadron had been pushed off to the side by Lucasfilm. On December 13 of the same year, Patty Jenkins released a public statement regarding her projects. In her statement, Jenkins clarified that she originally left the film after a long and productive development process which threatened to delay her next project. Jenkins stated that when she left, Lucasfilm asked her to reconsider returning once her project was complete, which she agreed to. A new deal was made and the project had been in active development as of December 2022, though Jenkins confirmed that she was not sure if it would actually happen or not.
On March 7, 2023, Variety reported that the film was no longer in development. At Celebration Europe 2023, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy spoke to IGN in an interview, saying that Rogue Squadron was a project they continue to currently discuss at Lucasfilm, and that it may remain as a film or may be transformed into a series. On March 13, 2024, Patty Jenkins confirmed to Collider that she signed a new contract with Lucasfilm and Disney to serve as writer and director for Rogue Squadron, and was currently writing the script for the film. In filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Disney revealed that they were releasing three untitled films between 2026 and 2027.
On May 7, 2019, Disney released its 2020–2027 theatrical release schedule, with a Star Wars film scheduled for December 16, 2022. The Star Wars Show also reported on the news on May 15. The release date slot was originally for the first entry in a film series by Game of Thrones writers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. After the pair's departure from the project, the release slot stayed on Disney's calendar and was delayed to December 22, 2023 after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thereafter, the release date slot was given to Rogue Squadron. On September 15, 2022, Disney officially removed Rogue Squadron and the release date slot from its calendar.