It appears that the Star Wars universe will mostly be limited to small screen productions for the time being. There have been reports that two film projects have been cancelled.
Recently, it was announced that despite the success of the first film, Wonder Woman 3 would no longer be part of the completely revamped DC Universe (DCU) by James Gunn and Peter Safran. This raised hopes for some that director Patty Jenkins would have time to pursue her other passion project, the Star Wars film Rogue Squadron. The spin-off, announced at Disney Investor Day 2020, was set to focus on the rogue group squadrons co-founded by Luke Skywalker during the Galactic Civil War and feature thrilling dogfights.
However, in September 2022, reports emerged that the film had been removed from Disney’s list of releases, signaling trouble for Jenkins’ project. The reason given was her commitment to Wonder Woman 3, which left her with no time to work on the Star Wars universe. Now that she has the time, there seems to be no project left to return to. According to industry magazine Variety, Disney has decided to pull the plug on the project. In December 2022, Jenkins mentioned that she was still working on the film, but did not know if it was still in production.
This is not the only bad news for Star Wars fans who have not seen many great films in recent years. The Star Wars film that Marvel Studios mastermind Kevin Feige was reportedly working on is no longer in the works. While no reason has been given, it’s likely that Feige will be occupied with the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), which is currently going through a rough patch. Recently, the box office performance of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, the first film of MCU phase 5, was disappointing and is likely to earn even less than its predecessor. Therefore, Feige will be busy trying to steer the Marvel ship back on course.
These “Star Wars” movies are a work in progress
Even though the two promising Star Wars films have been canceled, fans can still look forward to three upcoming films. First, there is Taika Waititi’s film, which, given current developments, is highly likely to be released next. Additionally, Damon Lindelof, creator of Lost, is currently working with Justin Britt-Gibson (Into the Badlands) on a screenplay that director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (Ms. Marvel) will film.
Lastly, there’s another Star Wars adventure from director Shawn Levy, who recently achieved success with Free Guy and The Adam Project and is currently preparing for the shooting of Deadpool 3. As of now, Levy is set to produce the film, but it’s possible he may also direct it.
