Star Wars Bits: Rogue Squadron, The High Republic, Vader's Castle, The Clone Wars, And More!

In this edition of Star Wars Bits:

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Matthew Robinson is penning the script for Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, which Patty Jenkins (Monster, Wonder Woman) is set to direct for Lucasfilm and Disney. The film will go into pre-production this fall for a shoot sometime in 2022. It currently has a December 22, 2023 release date.  

Robinson, who co-wrote and co-directed the 2009 Ricky Gervais comedy The Invention of Lying, has writing credits on Dora and the Lost City of Gold, the post-apocalyptic creature feature Love and Monsters, and the upcoming Edge of Tomorrow sequel, Live Die Repeat and Repeat, which is in development at Warner Bros. He also worked on Warners' remake of Little Shop of Horrors, also in development.

The highly-anticipated next books in the Star Wars: The High Republic have arrived! Star Wars: The High Republic: The Rising Storm and Star Wars: The High Republic: Race to Crashpoint Tower are now available at bookstores and online retailers, with Star Wars: The High Republic: Out of the Shadows arriving July 27.

Star Wars: The High Republic is set in an era when the Galactic Republic and the Jedi Order are at their zenith, about 200 years before the events of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace and 800 years after the fall of the "Old Republic."

While we're on the subject of publishing, Del Rey launched the first round of titles of their Essential Legends Collection last week, including Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn, Darth Bane: Path of Destruction by Drew Karpyshyn, and Shatterpoint by Matthew Stover. Now, they're announcing the next four titles in the ongoing series, which are set to hit shelves on September 7. From Del Rey:

The collection expands with a new batch of trade paperback editions: Dark Force Rising by Timothy Zahn, The Last Command by Timothy Zahn, Darth Bane: The Rule of Two by Drew Karpyshyn, and Rogue Squadron by Michael A. Stackpole. Each edition will have a new book cover with original artwork. Tracie Ching is the cover artist of Dark Force Rising and the Last Command, Simon Goinard is the cover artist of The Rule of Two, and Doaly is the cover artist of Rogue Squadron. In addition to the new cover, Rogue Squadron will also receive an all-new unabridged audiobook edition, read by Star Wars narrator Marc Thompson.

Check out hi-res images of the new covers over at Star Wars News Net!

DW Publishing and Lucasfilm's Halloween tradition of spooky Star Wars stories continues this fall with Star Wars Adventures: Ghosts of Vader's Castle, a five-issue miniseries from writer Cavan Scott, kicking off in September and running throughout October. StarWars.com has an interview with Scott, who reveals some details on the upcoming comic series:

"This year is the culmination of all the stories we've been telling, as we return the heroes of our original series to Mustafar," Scott tells StarWars.com. "Lina, Hudd, Skritt, and even CR-8R share the terrible nightmares they've been having. We will see Anakin, Jar Jar, and Padmé tussling with undead droids, Luke facing the spirit of the swamp on Dagobah, and Han having a huge problem with Chewbacca. Oh, and we also throw in the biggest terror of the Star Wars galaxy: a certain green-haired, long-eared smuggler by the name of Jaxxon! All this, and the return of Darth Vader from beyond the grave!"

Check out StarWars.com for a look at the fantastically frightening covers for Star Wars Adventures: Ghosts of Vader's Castle.

The final season of Lucasfilm's Star Wars: The Clone Wars has received nominations for the 48th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards in the following categories:

Winners will be announced on Saturday, July 17, at 8 p.m. All seven seasons of Star Wars: The Clone Wars are streaming on Disney+.

Gurihiru — consisting of illustrator and inker Chifuyu Sasaki and colorist Naoko Kawano – has brought its Disney-meets-anime style to Kotobukiya's popular ARTFX Star Wars Artist Series line. The result is "Battle of Endor — Little Rebels," a super-cute reimagining of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, depicting the adorable but murderous Ewoks raging against an AT-ST.

The piece, revealed exclusively on StarWars.com, is available for pre-order now.

At the first-ever LEGO CON, live-streamed directly from LEGO House in Billund, Denmark, a trio of new sets based on vehicles seen in the second season of The Mandalorian were announced. Moff Gideon's Imperial Light Cruiser, Boba Fett's starship, and the Imperial Armored Marauder will be available at the official LEGO site starting August 1, 2021.

Moff Gideon's 1,336-piece cruiser includes minifigures of Gideon wielding the Darksaber, Din Djarin with beskar spear, Grogu, Cara Dune, Fennec Shand, and a Dark Trooper.

Boba Fett's starship includes a brand-new mini-figure of Boba and Din Djarin, as well as a Gamorrean frozen in carbonite that can be stowed in a storage compartment. The ship also features rotating wings, stud shooters, and a handle for easy one-handed flying.

The Imperial Armored Marauder includes a rotating turret plus a Greef Karga mini-figure and a trio of stormtroopers, including the new elite Artillery Stormtrooper.

For more information, plus hi-res images of each set, check out StarWars.com.

This week in Star Wars, host Kristin Baver gives us a sneak peek inside the pages of Star Wars: The Secrets of the Sith, celebrates the Tempest Runner and more releases from Star Wars: The High Republic, and digs into the latest episode of Star Wars: The Bad Batch. Plus, Ming-Na Wen tells us about taking Fennec Shand, her character from The Mandalorian, into the world of animation.

Conan O'Brien's TBS show recently wrapped and the Team Coco YouTube channel has been posting some of the greatest hits from the talk show host's career. On 5/01/07, George Lucas stopped by Late Night with Conan O'Brien, where producer Jordan Schlansky challenged him to a Star Wars trivia contest.

And that's it for this edition of Star Wars Bits! If you have something cool from the Star Wars universe that should be included in this column, reach out on Twitter!