One of Star Wars’ Biggest Cancelled Movies Reportedly Being Reworked as a Disney+ Series

Since Disney acquired Lucasfilm back in 2012, the Mouse House has released a handful of new Star Wars movies and has a batch of others on the way (beginning with The Mandalorian & Grogu next summer). However, most fans are aware the studio has also announced several films that have never seen the light of day. One of the most prominent projects in that group is Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, which was to be directed by Patty Jenkins. Rogue Squadron was confirmed during Disney Investor Day in 2020, and even had a December 2023 release date scheduled. Obviously, it never made it to the big screen, but the latest rumors suggest it could be finding new life on streaming.

According to a report from MyTimeToShineHello (via The Direct), Rogue Squadron is being reworked as a TV series for Disney+. No other information (including a possible release window) was provided. Given the nature of this update, fans should take it with some grains of salt, but it’s still fascinating to hear Rogue Squadron could be revived in this capacity.

Star Wars Has Been Shifting Away From TV Shows

Perhaps the most interesting thing about the new Rogue Squadron rumor is that the proposed plan seemingly doesn’t align with Lucasfilm’s current strategy for the Star Wars franchise. After spending many years producing live-action TV shows for Disney+, the studio looks to be pivoting back to feature films. The only live-action Star Wars series on the docket currently is Ahsoka Season 2, which recently wrapped filming. In the meantime, The Mandalorian & Grogu and Star Wars: Starfighter are set to open in theaters over the next couple of years, and Kathleen Kennedy outlined a full slate of movies during Star Wars Celebration Japan this spring. No new live-action shows were announced.

There will still be new Star Wars content made for Disney+ in the future (animated series Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord is in the works), but there could be less of an emphasis on TV moving forward. Disney told Star Wars: Andor showrunner Tony Gilroy that “streaming is dead,” implying a company-wide shift in the way the Mouse House handles its prized franchises. While Disney+ provided Star Wars and Marvel with an avenue to tell a variety of stories and expand the lore, both properties were also guilty of oversaturating the marketplace, making it harder for fans to keep up. In the interest of favoring quality over quantity, there might be an effort to scale back.

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But even if Lucasfilm dials things down a bit, that doesn’t mean there will never be another new live-action Star Wars show. Just like Marvel is continuing to make content for the small screen (Daredevil: Born Again), Lucasfilm probably remains open to the idea as long as all the pieces fall into place. In the past, planned Star Wars movies were reworked as TV shows (Obi-Wan Kenobi), so this is something Lucasfilm has experience with. Rogue Squadron seems like a premise that could work as a series. Presumably, the story would follow a group of X-wing pilots, so the episodic TV format would allow Jenkins and Co. to properly flesh out all of the characters — something that would be tricky to do within the confines of a movie run time.

Jenkins revealed last year that she struck a new deal with Lucasfilm to work on Rogue Squadron, so the project remains a distinct possibility (especially since Jenkins’ Wonder Woman 3 was cancelled). Perhaps she realized the concept had potential as a TV series during development. Assuming this rumor is true, it would be interesting to see if budget concerns would prevent a Rogue Squadron show from getting the green light or not. Budget was a primary reason in why The Acolyte was cancelled, so cost could be a factor in getting Rogue Squadron off the ground. The show would likely have extravagant space battles, which wouldn’t be cheap to make. Hopefully, Rogue Squadron gets off the ground one way or another because it’s something that has a lot of potential to be special.

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