Patty Jenkins' Star Wars movie Rogue Squadron still has a December 2023 release date set despite reports of it getting delayed. From the moment Disney bought Lucasfilm in 2012, it became a priority to relaunch the Star Wars franchise. The goal was to release new movies every single year, but that stopped after Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was released. Lucasfilm took time to re-evaluate their plans for the future, which led to several exciting announcements about future Star Wars movies from Taika Waititi and Kevin Feige. However, the studio delivered the surprise announcement in late 2020 that Patty Jenkins was working on Rogue Squadron for a 2023 release.
The announcement for Rogue Squadron came with a video where Jenkins highlighted her close connection to its pilot story. It was then confirmed that it would be the director's next movie, with Love & Monsters writer Matthew Robinson later hired to pen the script. Despite all signs pointing towards Rogue Squadron's development going smoothly, the movie hit a reported speedbump in late 2021. Reports began to surface that Jenkins' Star Wars movie was being delayed indefinitely due to creative differences between the director and Lucasfilm. These reports noted that it was unclear if Rogue Squadron would keep its original release date as a result of these issues.
Disney released an updated release calendar that runs from 2022 to 2028 that reflects a few changes. However, Rogue Squadron was not among the titles to get a new release date or be removed. As it currently stands, Disney and Lucasfilm still officially have Jeknins' Star Wars movie set for a December 22, 2023 release date. It appears that for now Disney is either still planning to have Rogue Squadron released in theaters next year or that the studios are not yet ready to announce where it will move to.
Disney electing not to delay Rogue Squadron's release date could be a good sign that the movie is back on track. No one officially involved with the film ever commented on the reported delays, but it is possible the differences were smaller than believed. It is now possible that Jenkins and Lucasfilm are on the same page when it comes to the direction of Rogue Squadron. If that is the case, then the movie could still hit the December 2023 release date after all. This would be a welcomed development for the Star Wars universe too, as it would end a four-year drought of no Star Wars movies and finally deliver the first film set in the galaxy far, far away directed by a woman.
Even if Disney and Lucasfilm still do plan to delay Rogue Squadron, it will be complicated. Disney wants their Star Wars movies to come out in December, but James Cameron's Avatar sequels have dates secured for 2022, 2024, 2026, and 2028. That limits where Rogue Squadron can really move to without delaying the film a full two years. May would be another good month to debut it, but Disney also has new Marvel movies that always get the highly-coveted first weekend release. At this point, only time will tell whether or not Rogue Squadron keeps its 2023 release date or has to move to 2024 or 2025.
Source: Disney
