What’s the future of Star Wars movies if Rogue Squadron’s canceled?

Always in motion is the future for Star Wars, especially when it comes to the franchise’s movie business. Star Wars fans received a Thursday update from Lucasfilm and Disney about an inescapable development: the Patty Jenkins-directed film on dogfighting Star Wars: Rogue Squadron isn’t happening, at least, not by that project’s planned December 2023 release date. You might not see it happening ever.

Star Wars lovers who want to see the series return in movie theatres must wait until December 2025 at the latest. That’s when Disney theoretically plans to release an untitled Star Wars film, with no clear indication of what it’s about or who’s making it. A Star Wars film with a different title is planned for 2027. The same story.

News of yet another Star Wars movie vanishing from Disney’s schedule now feels routine. Many projects set in faraway places are often announced with writers and marquee directors attached. However, these films either fail to materialize or go unanswered. While the Disney-owned Marvel Studios offers clear direction on its theatrical slate stretching out to 2025, spanning at least nine feature films, Star Wars fans don’t know when, or even if, the franchise will ever realistically return to theaters.

Currently, Star Wars fans’ best hope seems to be the planned Star Wars theatrical project from writer-director Taika Waititi, who’s coming off the tepidly received Thor: Love and ThunderThis could be a worrying indicator. Patty Jenkins and David Benioff, as well as Josh Trank and Colin Trevorrow and Patty Jenkins are currently working on in-development Star Wars projects. Weiss have been scrapped or fizzled out after those directors’ respective Hollywood misfires. (Fantastic Four, Henry’s Book, Wonder Woman 1984And Game of Thrones’ finale.) Given Star Wars’ recent shaky history with luring in and then losing talent, it isn’t a safe bet that Waititi’s plan to expand the galaxy with brand-new characters and worlds will ever come to fruition.

The same is true for Rian Johnson’s announced Star Wars series, announced more than five years ago. With Johnson both a target of Star Wars’ fans ire for his storytelling choices in The Last Jedi and a trilogy of Knives Out movies to wrap up at Netflix, it’s not hard to imagine that he’ll ultimately walk away from the project in favor of something more comfortable. But at least Johnson himself seems optimistic, recently telling Indiewire his Star Wars project is “just at this point a matter of schedule and when it can happen. It would break my heart if I were finished, if I couldn’t get back in that sandbox at some point.”

There’s also the vaporous Star Wars movie meant to be produced by Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, which seems like something Feige is far too busy to do right now. The writer for that project. LokiCreator of series Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness writer Michael Waldron, said he was “busy, off writing this little Star Wars movie” back in May, the only real sign of life there.)

These projects could possibly be realized if they are successful.Episode IX — The The Rise of Skywalker. “We’re moving further beyond the existing sequels as we look to our movie space,” Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy told Empire at this year’s Star Wars Celebration. “[The sequel era] is what we talk a lot about in terms of where we’re going with our movies, and just how far out from that we’ll go. That’s very much the space we’re concentrating on.”

Lucasfilm appears content to cling to the past and Disney Plus TV series for Star Wars storytelling possibilities. There’s the prequel-to-a-prequel AndorThis book will tell the tale of the Rebellion leading up to the events in Star Wars Story: Rogue One• The Post-The Return of the Jedi-Set series Ahsoka, MandalorianAnd Skeleton Crew The Acolyte, a less nostalgia-reliant journey into Star Wars’ past, set 100 years before the events of George Lucas’ prequel era.

It remains to be determined if Star Wars will be brought back into the future and recast onto the silver screen. It may not matter: Star Wars is often better when new movies aren’t coming out and dominating the cultural conversation. Star Wars enthusiasts are used to waiting for the return of Star Wars: 16 years separated The Return of the JediAnd The Phantom MenaceAt the cineplex after all. This may prove to be yet another lesson in patience.