'Star Wars: Rogue Squadron' Is An Original Story, Not Based On The Video Game Of The Same Name
Last week, Disney and Lucasfilm announced that Wonder Woman and Wonder Woman 1984 director Patty Jenkins will be the first woman to direct a live-action Star Wars feature film – a fighter pilot movie called Star Wars: Rogue Squadron. Now Jenkins has provided a bit of context about the film: namely, that it won't be based on one of the many fighter pilot video games set in the Star Wars universe.
In an interview with IGN, Jenkins was asked if her newly announced Star Wars Rogue Squadron film would be an original story or take its inspiration from one of the video games that share that name. Jenkins promised that it would be an original story which will be influenced by that other material:
"[In the Star Wars: Rogue Squadron movie] we're doing something original with great influence from the games and the books. There's a lot of things being acknowledged and understood about the greatness of all of those things, but yes, it's an original story and I'm so psyched to do it."
Jenkins shared a video talking about the personal connection she has with fighter pilots and how she had to travel to a galaxy far, far away to finally find the setting for what she hopes will be "the greatest fighter pilot movie of all time."
"Patty, director of the Wonder Woman franchise, will bring her inspired vision to Rogue Squadron," Lucasfilm's Kathleen Kennedy said during Thursday's Disney investor presentation. "This story will introduce a new generation of star fighter pilots as they earn their wings and risk their lives in a boundary-pushing high speed thrill ride. The legend of Rogue Squadron has been long beloved by Star Wars fans and will move us into a future era of the galaxy."
Fans have loved that squadron largely because of the many addicting video games centering on them, starting with 1998's arcade/Nintendo 64 game of the same title. Multiple sequels followed, and even more planned sequels were swallowed up in development hell and never released.
In October, a new video game came out called Star Wars: Squadrons, which lets players fly as either a Rebellion or Empire fighter pilot. If you're excited to see Jenkins' movie set in the skies, there's a pretty great short film which accompanied that game's release; you can watch it right here.
Star Wars: Rogue Squadron is set to arrive on December 22, 2023.