You could argue that the biggest, most shocking announcement from the dozens of projects covered during last week’s Disney Investors Presentation was the unveiling of Patty Jenkins’ upcoming “Star Wars” feature film, ‘Rogue Squadron.’ While films from Taika Waititi, Kevin Feige, and J.D. Dillard have already been rumored/reported, we had no idea that Jenkins was going to be behind the camera for a “Star Wars” film, let alone the first feature film from the galaxy far, far away since the release of ‘Rise of Skywalker.’ But even though the film was announced, we still don’t have much more information about ‘Rogue Squadron’ to go off of. That said, there’s one thing that Jenkins will confirm— “Star Wars: Rogue Squadron” is a brand-new story and not an adaptation of a specific book or video game.
Speaking to IGN, the question was raised to Jenkins about the possibility of ‘Rogue Squadron’ actually being an adaptation of the popular video game franchise of the same name that began in 1998 and ran for three titles, ending in 2003. These featured the famous Rogue Squadron group of fighter pilots, featuring none other than Luke Skywalker. In fact, the series is so popular, this year there was another fighter pilot “Star Wars” game released, simply titled ‘Squadrons.’ However, don’t expect Jenkins’ film to pull story points from these.
“[In the ‘Star Wars: Rogue Squadron’ movie] we’re doing something original with great influence from the games and the books,” Jenkins explained. “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.”
This might help to put aside those concerns from some “Star Wars” fans that ‘Rogue Squadron’ is likely going to be yet another prequel film in the just-wrapped Skywalker Saga. Of course, even if Jenkins takes inspiration from the various books and video games, this seems like it could be the brand-new story that folks are hoping that “Star Wars” will start to tell in 2023 and beyond.
Regardless, if you were hoping for a direct adaptation of a specific video game, then you’re out of luck. Sorry.