Rogue Squadron, the newly-announced Star Wars feature film from Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins, will be coming to a galaxy near you in 2023.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, Rogue Squadron is currently slated to to open on Dec. 22, 2023. This tracks with Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy's previous statement that the film was looking to open around Christmas of 2023. With that in mind, it looks as though Disney is planning to continue its trend of holiday release dates for new Star Wars movies. Four of the five Star Wars features to be released since Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm have hit theaters during the month of December, with the sole exception being 2018's Solo: A Star Wars Story, which had a May premiere.
Rogue Squadron was officially announced by Kennedy yesterday as part of Disney Investor Day 2020, with Jenkins becoming the first female director to helm a Star Wars feature film. While little is known about the project, it should be noted that in Star Wars canon, Rogue Squadron was a Rebel starfighter squadron founded by Luke Skywalker during the Galactic Civil War.
Born out of the ashes of Red Squadron, which took down the Death Star in 1977's Star Wars, Rogue Squadron included the likes of Wedge Antilles and Hobbie Klivian, as well as Luke himself, with their most notable battle being the Battle of Hoth in 1980's The Empire Strikes Back. Rogue Squadron's exploits have further been explored in various pieces of tie-in media, such as Star Wars video games and comic books. The origin of their name was also effectively established by the 2016 anthology film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
"I love to move fast and speed of any kind," Jenkins said in a featurette celebrating the Rogue Squadron film's announcement. "I think that that's because I grew up the daughter of a great fighter pilot and every day I would wake up and go outside and look up and see my father and his squadron taking off in their F4s, whirring across the sky, and it was the most thrilling thing I still have experienced in my entire life. So when he lost his life in service to this country, it ignited a desire in me to turn all of that tragedy and thrill into one day making the greatest fighter pilot movie of all time."
She continued, "But try as I might and look as I did, I couldn't find the right story ever. I kept looking and looking, but I just couldn't find the right one -- until now. Now, I've found a movie about two things I love, so I'm going to see you very soon."
Directed by Patty Jenkins, Rogue Squadron is scheduled to hit theaters on Dec. 22, 2023.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter