Star Wars: Rogue Squadron Author Reveals His Involvement in Upcoming Movie
From the day it was announced, fans have wondered how Patty Jenkins' Star Wars: Rogue Squadron film would connect to the book series and video games of the same name, with writer of those novels Michael Stackpole recently noting that he hasn't been involved in developing the project. Stackpole's comments come as a bit of clarification, as remarks circled over the past week due to a miscommunication that the author had been in ongoing talks with Jenkins, only for Stackpole to note that Jenkins' skills as a filmmaker mean his input likely wouldn't be necessary to develop a compelling film. Star Wars: Rogue Squadron is currently scheduled for a December 22, 2023 release.
"What's really funny is I did not say to this person at GalaxyCon anything that I have not been saying since the film was announced, not including anything that is not public knowledge," Stackpole confirmed to the Around the Galaxy podcast. "What I found is, when I'm talking to people about it, there are a lot of people that still don't know [about the movie]. I mean, I can tell people, 'By the way, I don't know if you know, but Patty Jenkins is gonna be doing Rogue Squadron,' half the people I talk to go, 'Really? There's gonna be a movie?' You're a Star Wars fan? Come on."
It's worth noting that the tweet being referenced that had been misinterpreted by a number of outlets merely claimed that Stackpole "assured me Patty Jenkins had been in contact with him early on." While Stackpole neither confirmed nor denied that Jenkins had touched base with him at one point, even to merely express her admiration for his work, he set the record straight that he doesn't know any more about the project than what the rest of the Star Wars community knows.
"I know the tweet said that she had consulted with me. No, no, no," the author clarified. "And, like she needs to talk to me? Holy crap. I think she knows her way around a film. Again, in things she has said about the story publicly, she has been very nice in name-checking me and referring to the books and I can't thank her enough for doing that. But, as of this point, I know only as much as you guys know and, still, will be the first guy at the theater to go see it."
Both the novels and the video games focused on elite pilots in the Rebel Alliance, though when Disney purchased Lucasfilm in 2012, those Star Wars Expanded Universe stories were relegated to the Legends corner of the galaxy, making them no longer canonical. The connective tissue between the upcoming film and the Legends stories is merely in concept alone.
Despite reports that Rogue Squadron would be delayed due to Jenkins' busy schedule, Disney has yet to officially delay Star Wars: Rogue Squadron from its December 22, 2023 release date.
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